On Monday, American Eagle’s stock rose by more than 23 percent after President Trump complimented the company’s controversial advertisement featuring the actress Sydney Sweeney, upon learning that she shared his political affiliation.
When speaking with reporters on Monday morning, Mr. Trump was asked what he thought about the backlash to her ad campaign and then was told that Ms. Sweeney is a registered Republican.
“Now I love her ad,” he said. He added, “You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans.”
Then, on social media, he posted that the ad was “the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there.” He said that American Eagle’s jeans were “flying off the shelves” and then said, “Go get ’em, Sydney!”
Public voting records in Florida confirm that Ms. Sweeney registered as a Republican on June 14, 2024, but the actress has not commented publicly on political issues, nor has she publicly endorsed Mr. Trump. Representatives for Ms. Sweeney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the issue.
The show of support from the president probably contributed to the surge in American Eagle’s stock, Rich Smith, a stock market analyst at the financial services company Motley Fool, wrote in a post on Monday. But such an endorsement could end up being a “double-edged sword” for the company, he wrote, because it could “alienate” segments of consumers.
The stock lost some of the gains on Tuesday, with a 2 percent decline at the opening bell and further declines after the start of trading, but Monday’s bump was an example of Mr. Trump’s influence on the market and on the financial condition of businesses. The company has been struggling — its sales declined in the first quarter of the year — and the ad campaign was an attempt to reverse its downward trajectory.
With his comment and post, Mr. Trump seemed to provide a boost to that effort.
The ad in question, which was released in July, shows the popular actress clad in American Eagle denim while she talks about genetic traits. The camera then zooms into her blue eyes as she says, “My jeans are blue.” When the ad first appeared online, American Eagle’s stocks rallied in a bout of meme-stock mania.
That initial bump to the company’s stock price was short-lived. The ad — along with its accompanying tagline, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” — was criticized on social media for seemingly celebrating eugenics and white beauty standards, and the stock tumbled. The ad also set off debates about whether the company deliberately courted controversy as a marketing strategy and about the ever-shifting standards of political correctness.
On Friday, days after the ad was released, American Eagle posted a statement on Instagram declaring the campaign “is and always was about the jeans.” It did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Mr. Trump’s endorsement or the company’s recent stock performance.
Alisha Haridasani Gupta is a Times reporter covering women’s health and health inequities.
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