By ALLISON RUWALDT
Sydney Sweeney, an American actress, is receiving backlash over her new campaign ad for her lingerie brand, Syrn.
Sweeney, who owns the lingerie and loungewear brand, released an ad on October 21, depicting her as multiple classic Christmas characters dressed in provocative clothing. The ad started by showing the actress replicating Kevin from Home Alone, watching TV.
On the TV, it shows Sweeney dressed in a low-cut, flowy tank top and a short skirt, with hair that resembles Cindy Lou Who from the live-action Grinch movie. In the next scene, she is still portraying Cindy; however, this time in plaid long-sleeve pajamas.
After that, it shows her with Jack Skellington makeup in black lingerie, and in makeup resembling Emily from The Corpse Bride, dressed in red lingerie. Sweeney, as Kevin, is shown eating ice cream and drooling over the video on the TV. As she continues to switch channels, the ad also shows Sweeney resembling a swan from the ballet Swan Lake, dressed in lingerie, and finally it depicts Sweeney in the snow, with a Santa-like coat under her, dressed in white lingerie, appearing to be Mrs. Claus.
The backlash comes from the actress’s depiction of underage characters. Many commenters online believe that the ad contributes to the sexualization of children. Although she has not responded to the backlash, her silence appears to be enough of a statement.
Sweeney’s recent approach to engagement is clear: do something people on one side will not tolerate, but not something bad enough that her fan base abandons her. However, this tactic begs the question of when something is bad enough to leave the fandom.
In the past, Sweeney has lost fans for multiple reasons. Some began ignoring her because of the oddly phrased “I have good jeans” American Eagle ad, and others were fed up with her recent Norvig ad that displayed her as naked but covered with only sports-related items.
However, she has also gained fans, as these controversies brought her more attention from different demographics over her career. Her fan base has switched from a more liberal teen fan base, who watched shows like Everything Sucks and Euphoria, to more Republican middle-aged adults, who mainly know her for her roles in things like The Housemaid.
It is well within Sweeney’s character lately to release something controversial just for more engagement. While she chose to defend herself in her American Eagle jeans ad, she has stayed quiet about the negative response that has come from her Norvig ad months ago, and this new poor response.
Dressing as underage characters and portraying them as sex symbols can influence young or impressionable minds into seeing those characters as “sexy”. Many also point out the fact that the actress could have dressed as different characters from each movie. Martha May, from The Grinch, is already portrayed as a character who was intended to be more “sexy”, yet Sweeney chose to dress as the 11-year-old girl.
Many people online are split on the ad and whether or not it is problematic. While some do not see a problem with Sweeney using these characters to model her lingerie, more people online seem to understand the issues that come when children are portrayed in this light.
Although she has gained more attention from the ad, it is important to think about the implications of what she is showing.