a masterclass in what *not* to do

Hey,

There are a lot of thoughtful, smart creators writing about why the American Eagle jeans/genes/eugenics/eujeanics ad is problematic/racist/gross.

And it is.

And it's really f*cking bad marketing.

Not because of the backlash leading to a boycott and an already visible sales decline— that's the *result* of bad marketing.

Bad marketing happens when you market to someone who isn't your customer, at the expense of sales to your *actual customer*.

That AE ad was marketing to men. A specific demographic of red-hat-wearing American men who fetishize Sydney Sweeney. Eyes up here.

And sure, the gross bros jacked the stock up for a day.

But AE's core customer base is women. We actually *buy the products*.

And over the past 10 years, they've been aggressively marketing to women of all shapes, sizes, and demographics.

Aerie, a brand under AEO (that makes up 36% of AE's revenue), was one of the first brands to fully embrace the body-positivity movement.

In 2014, they launched the #AerieReal campaign, promising to stop digitally retouching their models. They created inclusive ads, platforming diverse creators. They've collaborated with the National Eating Disorders Association and placed body-positive messaging in their retail dressing rooms.

And it worked.

Aerie’s sales grew by 20% in the 2015 fiscal year, double their previous growth rate. They posted double-digit sales growth for over 20 consecutive quarters following the launch of their body positivity campaign.

Intimates/loungewear/ actives is a highly competitive space, but they have grown a very loyal customer base.

Who is now *pissed*.

The backlash is fierce and well earned, with thousands of posts about boycotting AE trending across all platforms.

JP Morgan downgraded American Eagle Outfitters stock to “Underweight” from “Neutral” on July 28, factoring in this campaign.

The marketing exec responsible has shut off comments to her post on here about the campaign. AE recently posted a photo of a Black model on their Instagram with the good jeans slogan, which is a sad attempt at damage control (as you can imagine, it isn't flying, but the comments section is A+).

An easy marketing lesson to remember:

If your brand has spent over a decade building goodwill, visible core values, and brand loyalty with real customers, don't light it all on fire to become a racist-friendly meme stock.

Waving,

Sarah

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