American Eagle’s fall denim campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney, taglined “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” sparked instant backlash. Critics claimed the slogan, paired with Sweeney’s blonde, blue-eyed image, evoked eugenics-era language and upheld white beauty ideals. Accusations of white supremacist marketing quickly surfaced.

But was this really racial dog-whistling, or just clever marketers doing what they do best?

After all, controversy drives engagement. And in today’s culture, a viral outrage cycle can double as a publicity strategy. American Eagle knew exactly what they were doing—and they likely knew the backlash could work in their favor.

So the real question is: Are we seeing white supremacy at work, or just a hypersensitive internet giving free promotion to another cheeky campaign?

In a world where many corporations have acquiesced to the demand for equity and inclusion in their marketing, this move by American Eagle seems to be in rebellion against this social justice-led marketing phenomenon. But in reality, demands for companies to feature members of marginalized groups in their marketing, irrespective of who their actual target audience is, undermines free-market dynamics and echoes authoritarian control.

The ad comes at a time when conversations about racism are again at a peak, causing many to be hyper-vigilant about what could be perceived as racist. Based on the history of eugenics in America, the accusations that the ad echoes racist sentiments seem valid. Then there is another perspective: that beauty is subjective and truly in the eye of the beholder. It’s very possible that American Eagle’s target audience would genuinely consider Sweeney to have “good genes,” if the pun was even truly intended.

Love it or hate it, the job of a business is to communicate a message that appeals to its target audience. To appease the general public at the expense of core messaging is a risk, and both the general public and the core audience will respond, whether through sales or the lack thereof.

While many believe that eradicating racism means destroying anything that looks, sounds, or even smells like it could be racist, I believe improving race relations involves not viewing the world solely through the lens of race, not constantly finding reasons to be offended, and allowing people to have and share their preferences.

A marketing ad from a fashion brand using messaging that sounds like eugenics propaganda is entirely different from the American government passing laws based on junk science that led to people unknowingly and coercively being sterilized. We must stop blurring the lines between the actions of the private and public sectors.

So no, this ad isn’t proof that white supremacy is secretly running the denim industry. It’s proof that outrage is profitable, and offense is a form of currency online. If we keep reacting to every piece of marketing like it’s a direct assault on civil rights, we’ll miss the real threats, the ones that don’t come wrapped in wordplay.

Let’s reserve our outrage for what actually matters. Everything else? Scroll past it or don’t buy the jeans.