Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle campaign is also drawing comparisons to Brooke Shields' controversial Calvin Klein ad from 1980. Shields' age (she was 15 at the time) ruffled feathers due to the commercial's provocative tagline: "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing."

Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle jeans campaign caused backlash over its puns on 'genes' and its bold marketing strategies

American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney campaign didn’t just add $200 million to the company’s market cap overnight. It reminded us that everything and nothing has changed about marketing. It turns out sex still sells. It always has and apparently always will. Nothing fancy about this strategy. That’s the lesson–or is it?