The dust may have settled on Sydney Sweeney’s controversial American Eagle jeans campaign, which sparked widespread backlash when it first launched in 2025. But now, another ad campaign featuring the 29-year-old actress has sparked a fresh wave of criticism.
The Euphoria alum is starring in a new holiday campaign for her SYRN lingerie brand, which sees her channeling several iconic Christmas movie characters, including Cindy Lou Who, famously played by Taylor Momsen in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And while there’s no denying that Sweeney looks incredible in the pictures, some social media users have taken issue with the campaign’s references to beloved childhood characters, with one even accusing her of “ragebaiting” for attention.
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Sydney Sweeney Channels Iconic Christmas Movie Characters In New SYRN Campaign
The Madame Web star shared a video of the campaign with her 25.7M Instagram followers on October 21st. The clip opens with Sweeney relaxing in a chair, digging into a large ice cream sundae while watching television, seemingly recreating Kevin McCallister's iconic hotel room scene from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
As she changes the channel, Sweeney appears dressed as Cindy Lou Who from How the Grinch Stole Christmas, complete with the character's signature hairstyle, a blue plaid outfit and a fur-trimmed cape. She later changes into red flannel pajamas.
The campaign then takes a more risqué turn, with the Housemaid star modeling black and red lingerie in scenes seemingly inspired by Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas, before appearing in daring icy blue and white lingerie for a White Christmas-inspired sequence.
Although Sweeney looked incredible in the pieces, some viewers weren't impressed by the decision to reference beloved children's movie characters in a lingerie campaign. This was despite the actress wearing pajamas rather than lingerie in the Cindy Lou Who-inspired scenes. And they certainly didn't hesitate to make their feelings known on social media...
Fans Call Sydney Sweeney's New Lingerie Campaign 'Disgusting' And 'Inappropriate'
There was plenty of criticism on Instagram, as well as a Reddit thread titled "Sydney Sweeney under fire for 'disgusting' lingerie ad posing as beloved child character, Cindy Lou Who: 'Is she actually turning Cindy Lou, the purest sweetest child into a sex symbol?!"
"Why is she posing as child characters in a lingerie ad?" one person asked. "Cindy Lou is a child, come on," a second person wrote, followed by a crying emoji. "The character is a child!" exclaimed a third.
"That's just not normal, Cindy is barely 12 years old in the film..." commented a fourth. "Weird to reference a child character in something like this," a fifth added, as a sixth chimed in: "Hey so those are children! Hope this helps."
"Why are we fetishizing child characters to sell lingerie?" asked a seventh. "This woman is disgusting," slammed an eighth. "This is SO uncomfortable. Freaking yuck," wrote a ninth, as a tenth person simply called the campaign "inappropriate." "Hey girl, not too late to delete this!" urged an eleventh. "Are you okay? Like seriously," questioned a twelfth.
"She rage baits on purpose. She could've used Martha May as inspo and did a gorgeous red negligee type thing," a thirteenth person suggested. "I get that she's ragebaiting for attention and marketing purposes, but I would think continuing to play into this and constantly trolling would harm her career in the long run," a fourteenth echoed.
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Other Fans Defend Sydney Sweeney And Praise Her Holiday Campaign
However, not everyone agreed with the criticism. Several users defended Sweeney on Reddit and Instagram, with some pointing out that the Cindy Lou Who-inspired looks weren't actually lingerie, while others simply raved about the actress and the gorgeous festive collection.
"The Cindy Lou Who shot was the least sexually overt thing in that lineup. Maybe poorly thought out, but far from sick. I doubt it was meant to rage bait. She is likely doing just fine from how much attention she's getting," one fan argued.
"I'm not a fan of Sydney Sweeney but the Cindy Lou picture isn't even lingerie, it's a full long sleeve and pants pajamas," a second pointed out, followed by an eye-rolling emoji.
"So like... literally never before has any cartoon/kids movie character been sexualized and used for promotion of anything? This is literally the first time ever? In like 10 days, no one is going to be any sexy character from your childhood for Halloween? Okay," a third pointed out.
"This ad will do well sorry but it's giving nostalgia vibes... people love Christmas. Those are iconic moments and memories of Christmas," a fourth commented, as a fifth declared: "The woman can do literally anything and haters will show up. She is just beautiful."
"Lowkey obsessed with this drop," gushed a sixth. "She's so pretty," wrote a seventh. "She looks great!" exclaimed an eighth, followed by a fire emoji. "She looks amazing. Love the Cindy Lou look," a ninth person praised, followed by a red heart emoji. "This is so cute lol," wrote a tenth, followed by a crying laughing emoji. "I love it!" added an eleventh fan.
