I swear, people on the comm are deeply uncurious and in denial about basic facts. The ad was unquestionably promoting eugenics in a silly tongue and cheek way 🤪. We live in a fascist state where people and companies feel more bold in coming out of the closet as evil; how is it so hard to believe that they'd run an ad like that?
I doubt it's just this comm though. Americans in general are as in denial about the state of things as the 1930s Germans before them. Things are more outrageous than they feel comfortable with, so to maintain their view of a just world, they just become further detached from reality. It's easier to think the ground under you is stable than scramble to deal with the quicksand.
The quote is present in the print ads. Is this meme intentionally misrepresenting that? What is the angle, here?
There's different ads. One of them has the quote in the post.
https://www.npr.org/2025/08/01/nx-s1-5487286/sydney-sweeney-american-eagle-explained-why-controversy-racist-eugenics-trump-bathwater-ad-klein-statement
Edit: Oh, you thought OP was trying to discredit the criticism. I think we're all on the same page now.
And that makes things better how? She still gave a eugenics dog whistle for a company in an era of out and proud fascism. I'm sorry you can't hear a dog whistle, but the dogs and the people who know their playbook certainly do.
It's not better. Thats pretty terrible. It sounds like you and I agree that Sweeney was making a full-throated endorsement for white supremacy. And, to be clear, we agree that's bad. So what's the angle posting a meme saying "she never said that" when the quote can be easily attributed to her?
It's a comment on people who thought that was all she said, who have been quite numerous in this comm.
Got it. Cool.
When I saw this originally I was already coming down from someone else in my circles saying probably exactly what you had in the meme, but without the critical thinking part. Like a kind of "she never said she had great genes, she said her eyes were blue! Suck it liberal! Facts>feelings!" Your commentary makes sense, but the meme was exactly, like I am pretty sure close to verbatim what they had said in defense of the ad. So in seeing the meme I was ready for war.