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As we previously reported, Sydney Sweeney has teamed up with American Eagle for a very expensive ad campaign that’s centered around a single pun.

The tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” is meant to be a homophone joke that refers to both the denim she’s sporting and the physical traits that have helped her reach the A-list.

But the attempt at humor isn’t sitting well with critics who say that the whole campaign is deeply problematic.

Sydney Sweeney’s “great genes/jeans” create controversy

It’s often said that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. But that rule might not apply to a situation in which an ad campaign for back-to-school clothes is being compared to Nazi propaganda.

According to its harshest critics, the American Eagle-Sweeney collaboration contains intentional racist “dog whistles” that are meant to appeal to far-right extremists.

Others believe the brand’s mistake is more innocent, and that AE simply failed to consider the implications of all that “gene” humor.

And of course, there’s a third group who believes this has all been blown out of proportion and the criticism is merely another example of “wokeness” run amok.

The situation has sparked widespread debate online, and while American Eagle is a trending topic across social media today, it’s not because users are so eager to snap up their new line of denim.

According to a new report from Salon, many social media users are accusing AE of using terminology that’s linked to troubling notions regarding “whiteness, thinness, and attractiveness.”

“This is what happens when you have no ppl of color in a room,” one X user wrote, according to the outlet.

Others criticized the brand for getting “caught up” with “clever” wordplay and missing the “blatantly obvious” undertone of such phrasing.

“I’d expect this from Abercrombie… but not yall,” one person wrote.

“Read the room…” another added.

“Welp, no longer shopping at AE ever again, and neither will my future children,” a third chimed in.

Some critics are convinced that the controversy is the point, and AE’s ad team knew exactly what they were doing.

“If you’re insisting the Sydney Sweeney ad isn’t a dog whistle you’re either disingenuous or stupid,” wrote one popular X account, adding:

“It’s a brilliant piece of marketing from an engagement standpoint and it’s too perfect to be an accident.”

In addition to photo and video ads, Sweeney’s involvement with the AE brand includes the creation of the Sydney Jean, a design of her own, which features butterfly embroidery representing domestic violence awareness.

American Eagle says it will donate 100 percent of the net proceeds from the jeans to Crisis Text Line.

The brand has yet to publicly comment on the backlash against its latest campaign.