As the last month of summer comes to a close, we are going over EVERYTHING that went down in August. From Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle Ad to the Tayvis engagement announcement, and so much more.
Sydney Sweeney X American Eagle
Although this presented itself in late July, it was still catching all the headlines into the middle of August. The ad first gained traction when American Eagle posted a teaser video of their new collab, and the internet went into a frenzy. Many people, including myself, thought it was singer Renee Rapp since her new album “Bite Me” was set to release on August 1st. That was the American Eagles’ first mistake.
The ad’s “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” hit a negative tone to most, if not all, of the general public because it focuses on her blonde hair and blue eyes. The campaign sparked backlash from consumers who argue it reinforces white privilege and marginalizes minorities, as well as people whose bodies and skin don’t align with the idealized image of young, white individuals.
Gavin Casalegno X Dunkin
Immediately following the controversy from Sweeney X AE, Dunkin’ Donuts also released a similar ad talking about genetics. The ad has the Summer I Turned Pretty star promoting their newest refresher drink.
The line that sparked controversy was “This tan? Genetics,” he says, as he strolls around the pool. “I just got my color analysis back. Guess what? Golden summer, literally!”.
What began as a lighthearted summer campaign from the brand quickly drew scrutiny, with online users questioning its message, especially after the American Eagle ad sparked heated debates about alleged eugenics signaling.
Matt Rife X E.l.f.
The controversial advertisements keep on coming with the Matt Rife X E.l.f. collab. It was meant to be light-hearted with their fictional beauty law firm fighting “beauty injustice” since E.l.f. is known to be one of the most affordable makeup brands in the market.
The brand picked Rife because his target audience overlaps with theirs, with Gen Z women, and his virality on TikTok. However, the campaign quickly fell flat with part of the audience. Almost as soon as the video went live, TikTok commenters and stitches resurfaced Rife’s 2024 Netflix jokes about domestic violence.
Critics questioned why a brand known for championing women would collaborate with someone accused of trivializing an issue that directly affects many of its customers.
The Life of A Showgirl Announcement
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention, probably one of the biggest announcements to happen in August ( don’t worry, the other one is coming up next), Taylor Swift announcing her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl”, on the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast.
The teaser video was posted on Instagram on August 12th, and the episode was set to go live the following day at 7 PM. In the clip, she showed a blurred-out version of the album cover and had the same thing on her website, but with a sparkly orange lock on the front to keep the cover art a secret until eventually unveiling it on the podcast.
Brands took this concept and ran with it. If you were scrolling through your timeline, you probably only saw orange glitter and teal. This showcased how important it is for brands to react fast when a big pop culture event happens, like this one. Most notable brands to use the now iconic orange glitter are Olipop, The Empire State Building, Dunkin, Poppi, and even Scrub Daddy.
Since orange is one of our core colors, we had to jump onto the trend. See our post here!
Katseye X GAP
After the AE controversy, many denim brands used their failure as an opportunity to get more sales. Brands like Levi’s and Abercrombie released ads about “Better Denim” rather than using genetics. One brand stood out, and that was GAP.
On August 19th, GAP unveiled its new denim campaign with global girl group Katseye, who have become more popular in the few months after their performance at Lollapalooza in Chicago.
GAP’s “Better In Denim” campaign did everything that AE failed to do: be inclusive. At the center of the campaign is a spot featuring Katseye in full denim, joined by dancers performing genre-blending choreography set to the 2000s anthem ‘Milkshake.’ As the piece unfolds, more dancers layer in, a visual metaphor for togetherness, while a circular formation represents community.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Engagement
Just two weeks after The Life of a Showgirl announcement, Taylor shares that she and Travis are engaged. This quite literally broke the internet because it was speculated for a long time that this was coming, but we didn’t know if it was going to be shared with the public. For the Swifties everywhere (including me), it was hard to focus after hearing the big news.
Just like Taylor’s album announcement, brands took the viral opportunity to use for their own marketing, further proving that social media calendars should be written in pencil, not pen. Here are a few examples:
Cracker Barrel Rebrand
Another brand that couldn’t seem to get it right this month was Cracker Barrel. They launched their rebrand with a fresh, new, modernized logo, and let’s just say, no one was happy about it.
Modernizing logos has been the trend for a lot of brands to make it look minimal and sleek. Although it looks appealing, not every brand needs it. A logo not only represents a brand but also its heritage, and when a company strips that away, it loses trust.
Cracker Barrel eventually gave in to the backlash and reverted to its old logo.
Final Thoughts
August was the month of failed ad campaigns and Taylor Swift. We learned that most brands don’t know their audience as much as they think they do and that it’s important to take time to understand your customer base, even if you are a large brand.
We also learned that sometimes it’s okay to jump on trends, if you can make it relate to your brand. Staying on top of what’s happening can either make or break you.
I’m looking forward to seeing what September has to offer and how it will influence our feeds.
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