American Eagle (AEO) stock rose as much as 16% on Monday after President Trump waded into the discussion about the company’s viral ad campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney.
“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns. “It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ’em Sydney!”
The campaign features a play on homophones — “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” and “Sydney Sweeney has great genes” — that quickly generated controversy around the potential ambiguity of the ad’s message.
American Eagle responded to the accusations on Sunday in a post on its Instagram page: “‘Sydney Sweeney has great jeans’ is and always about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story.”
Read more about American Eagle’s stock moves and today’s market action.
Shares of the retailer have been volatile since the ad campaign was rolled out in late July. Late last month, the stock was lumped in with other meme plays, a trade that has begun to fizzle out over the past week.
President Trump’s post on Monday also alluded to recent advertising campaigns from companies including Jaguar and Bud Light, which saw both brands embroiled in controversies around messaging derided by critics as “woke.”
Last week, Jaguar Land Rover announced its CEO Adrian Mardell would step down from the top job after three decades with the company, attributing the move to Mardell’s wish to retire. A successor has not yet been announced.
“The tide has seriously turned — Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be,” Trump wrote.
Jake Conley is a breaking news reporter covering US equities for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @byjakeconley or email him at jake.conley@yahooinc.com.
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