It feels like just yesterday that Sydney Sweeney appeared in a commercial for American Eagle that sent society into a one-sided culture war battle that was so devastating for the woke left that its sputtering, desperate reactions probably did just as much damage as Sweeney's... assets.
What's funny about the ad is that just 15 years ago, it probably wouldn't have caused any level of outrage at all. It would've just been another ad for a clothing brand, but in the era of wokeness, a beautiful white woman appearing front and center as she talked about her "jeans" was so controversial that it made headlines. Sweeney's crime was that she wasn't actually a man pretending to be a woman, fat, or "diverse."
Retrospectively, this singular ad was a nuclear device that went off and destroyed a decade's worth of corporate DEI on-screen mandates. Other companies began rolling out ads with conventionally attractive white people as the main, or only, character in the ads, only spurring the knee-jerk response of "Nazi propaganda" from woke leftists and an endless tidal wave of temper tantrum-throwing from leftists on TikTok.
But the response was too positive. American Eagle's sales skyrocketed, particularly the jeans worn by Sweeney in the commercial. Web traffic doubled. Stock prices rose as well, making investors happy. Most importantly, AEO reached a level of brand awareness it hadn't experienced in years.
The signal couldn't be stopped, no matter how much the leftist media attempted to stop it. Attractive women selling things works. It was like watching the remnants of a lost civilization rediscover fire.
If you want to know how much damage Sweeney did to the corporate DEI nonsense? Allow me to redirect you to the latest Calvin Klein ad featuring pop star Tate McRae. If you look closely, you'll notice a great deal of sex appeal used during the ad.
Feel the Fit. @tatemcrae in jeans that fit just right. confidence comes naturally in denim icons. pic.twitter.com/sUSXKGycV1
— calvinklein (@CalvinKlein) August 25, 2026
This is incredibly significant because when brands went woke, Calvin Klein pushed its entire stash of chips into the center and said, "All in." The clothing brand was pushing transgender people, diversity nonsense of every kind, and to this day, the image of "Chika" still haunts the brand.
Who is Chika? Come on. You know Chika.
Calvin Klein ad from the peak woke era: pic.twitter.com/LNmqmUvEbF
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 29, 2025
McRae, an attractive white girl who dances, has now replaced this creature that should have been in possession of a space princess in a bikini and chains, which says a lot about where corporate America has gotten to since Sweeney nuked the entire operation by saying the word "jeans"
I've been pointing out how the pendulum is swinging, and swinging hard. Another example of a conventionally attractive female suddenly taking the lead in the marketing of a woke company was the upcoming video game "Fable," which had been fronted by a they/them character since the marketing started, and suddenly, that character took a backseat to someone far more attractive.
Read: The Cultural Pendulum Just Took Another Big Swing Away From Wokeness
As I wrote then, the video game industry embracing beauty and sex appeal is one of the chief indicators that the culture is turning away from the woke DEI nonsense we've been soaked in, and is returning to normalcy.
I dare say that clothing brands doing it is an even greater indicator. Males are the primary buyers of video games, which is why it was attacked so hard by the DEI infection. However, the fashion industry is primarily the realm of women, and women are traditionally more on board with saying beauty standards are more widespread and diverse.
If the fashion industry is returning to the standard "attractive white woman" method of selling things, then the pendulum is definitely swinging, and it's swinging hard.
I imagine we'll be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing going forward, and as it does, I imagine we'll be hearing a lot more rending of clothing and gnashing of teeth from the woke left. I hope we do, because every time they're given the microphone, they embarrass themselves further with their accusations of social sins and unpleasable attitudes.
The culture will collectively turn the volume down on them naturally, and I can't wait to stop hearing them altogether.
