Opinion: Marketing tactics dangerously dangle rage bait for consumers

Gregory Ferraro is a staff writer of the Daily Titan. All opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the Daily Titan as a whole.

On July 23, 2025, American Eagle’s advertisement with American actress Sydney Sweeney, received viral backlash tied to “rage bait.” This newly coined term describes a tactic utilized to provoke anger, division and negative attention from audiences.

In the commercial Sweeney is quoted saying, "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color— my jeans are blue.”

This quote was received as rage bait amongst diverse communities, as it arguably alluded to potentially racist implications and eugenics.

Critics called out the potential insinuations of the advertisement’s wordplay on social media, flooding the internet with opinions from every angle. The surge in attention led to an increase of 23% in the company's stock share value, as well as a 15% increase in web traffic, according to media monitoring company Carma. However, this did not translate directly to more purchases from customers.

On Aug. 1, American Eagle released a statement responding to the public backlash, claiming “‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her Story.”

Nikita Puyat, CSUF alumni and business marketer was shocked by the release of the campaign.

“They needed to think a little more about framing,” Puyat said. “I don’t think whoever was in charge of that campaign really looked at just the political world, and obviously there’s no way they thought about how the public would react.”

Puyat has been involved in marketing for multiple start-ups, brands, publications and small businesses. She used her background to further reflect on how the marketing campaign may have backfired.

”Something I’ve noticed, just working with different people, is just having that diversity in the workplace. Maybe that’s where it stems from, not having enough diversity or different perspectives of things,” Puyat said. “It’s just having a diverse set of people and then also having a well-rounded thought, about what people are going to think.”

American Eagle claims “Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access” (IDEA), efforts which aim to bridge the gap in diversity and inclusion, are embedded in the foundation of their brand. Yet, their recent advertising practices, and the controversy they catalyzed, leave certain communities completely misrepresented.

According to “Media, Diversity, and Representation in the U.S.,” the media serves as the principal outlet for representation in how certain diverse groups are depicted. Therefore, media and advertisement tactics hold a large responsibility with the power to influence people’s perceptions of groups they personally aren’t part of.

The backlash is inadvertently tied to the campaigns, reminding consumers of the conflict of intention versus impact. In order to validate these legitimate impacts representation within marketing language has on real communities, the audience must investigate the thorough and strategically created media campaigned to them.

Media literacy is the process of learning how to “access, analyze, evaluate, create and act” using all forms of communication, as described by the National Association of Media Literacy. With further understanding of the complexities behind media, individuals have a better chance of directing their attention towards brands that better serve them.

The main goal for an advertisement is to sell a product or create attention. The distrust or support earned by a successful campaign is an enabling byproduct of the original goal, often leveraging attention as a tool if possible.

Campaigns are launched without certainty of public reaction, and although companies are not dismissed from the harm their media may promote, often the seeds of controversy are watered by publicity and not initially planted by the company’s original intention.

These triggering sentiments may simply be the cheese in a larger mousetrap meant to bait attention.

Valeria Preciado, a CSUF third-year communications entertainment and tourism major, offers an attention redirection strategy for people who have found discomfort with information exposed in the media.

“What we can do as consumers is boycott or keep talking about the issue so we can pay attention to this,” Preciado said.

When a brand’s actions fail to align with one’s morals or beliefs, it’s a personal yet powerful choice to boycott the company.

Because of the assembly line that approval must pass through in ad campaigns, companies are responsible for clarifying their intended messages while also acknowledging the subliminal promotions of their campaigns.

In defense, consumers must deploy their own discretion to protect themselves from the potentially rage-inducing sentiments meant to bait their attention, redirecting their energy to being even more intentionally exclusive with what media engages their valued attention.