Astronomer, American Eagle, Sydney Sweeney.
The Real Problem Isn’t Marketing. It’s Us.
What Astronomer, American Eagle, and Sydney Sweeney Teach Us About Marketing, Morality, and Mob Mentality
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Branding in the age of outrage
In branding, we say perception is reality. But in today’s culture wars, reaction is reality, especially when it’s loud, fast, and weaponized.
One second, you’re selling jeans. Next, you’re dodging PR landmines, trying to explain why a celebrity is or isn’t on your side of the political divide.
But first, a story:
After executing a controversial acquisition, a CEO hired me to help reposition their brand. Their problem wasn’t political. It was personal. The founder had sold to a much larger company, and loyal customers were furious; they felt like they had been in the inner sanctum and now they felt betrayed.
In the boardroom, I was asked, “How do we reassure people that we’re still the brand they love?”
My answer: “You don’t. You show them who you’re going to be next. And then you decide if you’re brave enough to stay consistent when the heat comes.”
They blinked. Then someone said, “That sounds hard.”
Yes. Yes, it is.
Astronomer, American Eagle, and the Cost of Going Viral
Which brings us to Astronomer, American Eagle, and the ever-smiling, ever-polarizing Sydney Sweeney.
Here’s the summary:
Astronomer’s CEO had a very public romantic moment with the company’s head of HR on a Coldplay concert Jumbotron. It quickly became a viral HR scandal, triggering questions about ethics and leadership. The response? A lightning-fast campaign featuring Gwyneth Paltrow that turned a personal disaster into a brand moment.
Astronomer’s original branding pivot
Meanwhile, American Eagle dropped a back-to-school campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney looking like a poster child for imagined vintage Americana; blonde hair, blue eyes, and denim wrapped around a bombshell figure. The ads triggered an immediate backlash. Critics didn’t see fashion.
How “bad jeans” became “bad genes”
They saw a political statement. Her look was called “conservative-coded,” her curves morphed into commentary, and the campaign’s cheap “bad jeans” pun got twisted into “bad genes” by people eager to assign intent. Suddenly, a simple denim ad became a referendum on identity, ideology, and the fight for control over the cultural narrative.
What Marketers Are (and Are Not) Responsible For
What do these flaps have in common? Marketers caught in the crossfire of social media outrage, expected to answer for choices they never made.
But here’s the part no one else is saying:
It’s not the marketer’s job to support any particular ideology. It’s their job to support and grow their clients’ or their employers’ brand value. That brand value is often directly tied to shareholder value. That’s their responsibility.
Companies can and should decide how they feel about political or social issues. They can and should choose whether or not to take sides, and they can and should decide what levers they’re willing to pull to get what they want.
Then it’s the marketer’s job to provide strategic guidance, explain the potential fallout, and either do the job they were hired to do or walk away if the decision violates their personal values.
Who’s Actually to Blame?
Regardless of what happens, the blame for these firestorms doesn’t lie with marketers.
It lies with us.
We’re the ones reacting to dog whistles and gossip. We’re the ones screenshotting contextless moments, forwarding them to friends, and jumping on every trend with a hot take. We act like we’re defending virtue when we’re really just addicted to outrage.
We’re not responding to what brands said. We’re responding to what we think they meant.
And somewhere in that gap between intention and interpretation, marketers are expected to make everyone happy, offend no one, and still hit this quarter’s KPIs.
Simplifying your message in a noisy world
That’s not a strategy. That’s chaos.
What Brands—and Consumers—Can Do About It
So what should companies do?
Decide who you are. Then act like it. Let your values lead your leadership, not just your language.
And what should we do?
Pause. Ask questions. And stop expecting jumbotrons and jeans ads to validate our beliefs.
The Bottom Line
Because if we don’t, we’ll keep getting the marketing we deserve.
Do you need help navigating today’s branding minefield?
I keynote at conferences around the world, helping companies lead with clarity, communicate with confidence, and build brands that matter. I still have a few dates open in 2025 and 2026.
Let’s Talk