Value, cost and well-worn tropes are dominating back-to-school marketing this 12 months. While some would argue that there’s comfort to be present in the familiar during a chaotic period, Gen Z retailer American Eagle is learning firsthand that one person’s comfort might be one other’s exasperation. For marketers strategizing ahead of the brand new school 12 months, the backlash to American Eagle’s big bet on A-lister Sydney Sweeney spotlights the challenge to find the fitting message to meet the present moment.
“Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” is designed to help American Eagle resonate with a broad audience and includes distinguished out-of-home displays and digital activations. However, wordplay within the campaign that swaps “jeans” for “genes” has sparked backlash for what some see as the promotion of racist ideals, while others have criticized the trouble for its sexual overtones. The campaign also raises questions on whether or not marketers have fallen out of touch of their chase to land the sale.
“By using a broadly appealing celebrity and an easy play on words, American Eagle seems to have attempted to speak to everyone, which ultimately means they spoke to nobody in a meaningful way,” said Myles Worthington, founder and CEO of full-service marketing agency Worthi, in emailed comments.
American Eagle is considered one of dozens of brands attempting to win back to school in a difficult retail environment. Social media is playing a dominant role within the chase for Gen Z, providing a channel for driving each online engagement and in-store traffic. Forward-thinking marketers have also sought to construct affinity with the rising Gen Alpha cohort — and the important thing might be through their millennial parents. Underpinning these seasonal efforts are a give attention to cost and value as brands attempt to resonate with budget-conscious consumers.
“There’s nothing recent happening,” said Otis Gibson, founder and chief creative officer of world brand consultancy Gertrude. “I believe innovation as a complete seems to be slowed down by way of recent … in any facet, nobody wants recent when things are rocky.”
Consumers and types put value first
Families this season plan to keep budgets tight, with overall back-to-school spending expected to be flat 12 months over 12 months at $30.9 billion, according to Deloitte’s annual survey of the occasion. Nearly half of fogeys are planning to unfolded their back-to-school purchases over time to higher manage their budgets, with average spending expected to increase in late August and September compared to 2024 levels.
A bleaker forecast comes as economic expectations dip to their lowest level prior to now five years, per Deloitte, making a give attention to cost and value paramount for brands. Back to school can even have less flexibility than other sales windows like the vacations, where it’s easier for families to adjust the variety of gifts they need to buy, researchers explained.
“This is actually deep — my kids need this stuff, I even have to get them,” said Lupine Skelly, retail research leader at Deloitte, of back-to-school products. “They don’t have a ton of wiggle room to actually cut the items, in order that makes the value point more essential.”
“We’re hyper sensitive now, since it’s on daily basis we’re hearing about tariffs.”
Otis Gibson
Founder & CCO, Gertrude
Value has been at the middle for brands including Target, which launched dual back-to-school efforts in June. The first, “Hey Mom, I’m at Target,” highlights perks of the Target Circle 360 program for faculty students while featuring young content creators as they navigate the complexities of dorm room living. The second campaign, “All of the Above,” made with creative agency Anomaly, emphasizes products that may appeal to parents, teachers and younger kids and features collaborations with teacher content creators.
Value and value lead amongst creative trends this season, explained Gibson, noting that the period has seen “more of the identical” and an absence of recent features, products and advantages promoted. However, as trade wars and recessionary fears loom, the comfort present in familiarity might be exactly what consumers are on the lookout for.
“We’re hyper sensitive now, since it’s on daily basis we’re hearing about tariffs,” Gibson said.
Social-first promoting sways Gen Z
A social-first mentality this back-to-school season is clear amongst advertisers and mirrors broader industry trends, Gibson said. Social media promoting spending within the U.S. is anticipated to top $82 billion in 2025, up from $75 billion the 12 months prior. Forty-one percent of shoppers plan to use social media of their shopping journey this season, and those that do typically spend nearly two times greater than those that don’t, per Deloitte.
Social media is in full focus for the second iteration of JanSport’s seasonal campaign, “Always With You,” which asserts the backpack maker’s status as an on a regular basis companion for college students. Launched in June, the trouble was developed for platforms like TikTok and YouTube and follows a successful first run that led to the brand’s highest-grossing sales day in its 57-year history. Key to the campaign are a series of musical spots that mix the cringeworthy humor favored by Gen Z with relatable chaos in hopes of stopping them mid-scroll.
JanSport’s campaign, made with agency Party Land, has already shown signs of growth over last 12 months’s push, including higher interaction and longer view times, said Lindsay Read, the brand’s head of marketing. JanSport’s strategy was informed by Gen Z consumer insights and its view of TikTok as a content playground, not only a media channel. It measures success through views and other metrics like saves, shares and comments.
Some marketers have also focused their social media efforts on driving consumers into stores by partnering with big brands like Walmart and Target, said Emily Brown, associate director of strategy at Billion Dollar Boy. The strategy is supported by the insight that Gen Z prefers to shop in-person more often than their millennial or Gen X counterparts, and sometimes includes leveraging influencers for in-store haul videos.
“That’s where they’re putting a whole lot of those efforts in … getting people to have their brand on their mind as they undergo that first big back-to-school shopping haul,” Brown said. “Even those brands that you would go straight to their website and buy directly from them are still trying to put all their eggs within the Target basket or the Walmart basket.”
The approach could appeal to parents searching for the convenience of a one-stop shop experience, with nearly one half of back-to-school shoppers planning to spend essentially the most at mass merchants, per Deloitte.
Brands compete for Gen Z
A give attention to in-person experiences is at the center of Urban Outfitters’ campaign, “UO Haul.” The effort catering to Gen Z began in May with a New York scavenger hunt that led to a fleet of trucks with glass displays showcasing “hauls” fashioned for various dorm room aesthetics. The campaign drove around 10 million organic social media impressions throughout the first two weeks of its launch, said Head of Brand Marketing Cyntia Leo.
“We know that IRL experiences matter to this Gen Z customer, they need to get out on this planet, they need to experience fun, exciting things,” said Leo. “We think that it also creates more of an enduring memory for our customer.”
The second phase of the campaign kicked off in July with “Special Delivery,” a series of events meant to have fun recent graduates. The concept was inspired by the 1000’s of letters the brand receives every year from students sharing their feelings concerning the 12 months ahead and features a partnership with U-Haul to assist with moving, together with pop-up shops that may roll out in key college markets.
The retailer also launched a Dream Dorm Makeover Contest on Pinterest in partnership with HGTV. Additionally, Urban Outfitters might be on campuses in August and is bringing back its UO Live experience for a second 12 months to feature Gen Z-favorite artists and creators. The campaign, informed by social listening, is a component of Urban Outfitters’ long-running efforts to support college students throughout their journey, Leo explained.
“In the last two years, we actually wanted to double down on our offense to really be certain that that not only were we supporting as a brand holistically, but we were really taking a look at key insights on what does this customer need and the way can we best show up for them?” she said.
For American Eagle, a star tie-up was key to its campaign, a tactic it has relied on prior to now through partnerships with stars including Coco Gauff, Lola Tung, Addison Rae and Jenna Ortega. The retailer’s stock soared the day after its campaign with Sweeney debuted in July — and surged again more recently after the trouble received praise from President Donald Trump.
“To me, not including any apology to those that they unintentionally offended was weak, and a glaring omission.”
Myles Worthington
Founder & CEO, Worthi
However, the brand’s effort has continued to be the topic of criticism and seen a poor response from Gen Z. One ad particularly, which has since been faraway from the brand’s social channels, sees Sweeney whisper, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” Some critics imagine the script promotes eugenics by suggesting Sweeney’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed genes are more desirable than others.
American Eagle’s campaign emerged amid an already polarized political atmosphere, with the present administration firm in its anti-diversity, equity and inclusion stance. That focus could trickle down into the psyches of marketing executives and drive them to be more cautious of their creative output, explained Mita Mallick, a workplace strategist and former head of inclusion and multicultural marketing for Unilever. To avoid missteps, the chief recommends creating an environment more open to feedback, including from more diverse and junior level staffers.
“Does Gen Z have a voice on the table?,” Mallick said. “The query is, are the people who find themselves writing checks and green lighting this work, are they only so faraway from this, or are additionally they frightened of the climate and this current administration and saying that, you understand, we’re just going to return to what was secure.”
American Eagle later released a response on Instagram standing behind its campaign that read, “‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and all the time was concerning the jeans.” For some, the dearth of an apology is seen as a step within the unsuitable direction.
“To me, not including any apology to those that they unintentionally offended was weak, and a glaring omission,” Worthington said. “It might be interesting to see what their next move is.”
The way forward for back-to-school marketing
While several brands are keyed in on Gen Z, the back-to-school period also provides a helpful time for marketers to connect with older members of Gen Alpha, the generation born between 2011 to 2025, explained Emily Weiss, principal researcher at Gartner. To achieve this, Weiss recommends appealing to millennial parents and their Gen Alpha children, whose values are still in flux, with messaging that empowers kids and resonates with family values. Parents involve their Gen Alpha kids in small household decisions as early as age seven, per Gartner research.
“These brands do have the power to make these inroads with kids fairly early, not in a necessarily invasive way, but because their parents each want their opinions and likewise do a whole lot of stuff with them that builds a brand relationship much earlier on,” Weiss said.
One example called out by Weiss is L.L. Bean’s nostalgic back-to-school ad showcasing its backpacks. The spot displays quite a lot of colourful styles available for the backpack and is about to “Return of the Mack,” a 1996 R&B song by Mack Morrison, a probable appeal to cohorts like millennials and Gen X, the exec explained.
“They type of were speaking to their very own brand values, speaking to the nostalgia of millennials and young Gen X and just getting of their brains to be like, ‘Remember this?’” Weiss said.
Despite being open to branded digital content, 43% of Gen Alpha parents are very or extremely concerned concerning the impacts of excessive screen time on kids compared to 35% for other parents, per Gartner. The insight backs Weiss’ suggestion to brands to prioritize more offline, sensory experiences that engage each parents and kids.
While millennial parents make up 71% of Gen Alpha’s parent group, Gen Z parents are slowly coming into the fold, giving marketers one other opportunity to tap into evolving consumer trends. Specifically, Gen Z parents are more keen on digital experiences than their older counterparts: 30% of the cohort plan to purchase directly on social media, compared to 17% of fogeys overall, according to Deloitte’s Skelly. The group, which is more likely to use social media of their shopping journey typically, also trusts influencer content almost twice as much as other parents.
As brands map out future back-to-school efforts, those that anticipate and adapt to ever-evolving consumer preferences might be in a stronger position to form deeper connections with the following generation of household decision makers.
“We’ve talked lots about how [Gen Z parents] are going to type of reshape back to school,” Deloitte’s Skelly said. “Their preferences are so rather more digital, and that’s considered one of the fun things that’s on the horizon … There’s gonna be a great story here in a few years once this younger generation has a bit bit more purchasing power.”
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