Old Guys Rule
Jay Schottenstein is 71 years old and he’s the boss of the American Eagle brand. When all hell broke loose over the Sydney Sweeney ad campaign earlier this year, Jay told his crew, “Hold tight and stay calm.”
Based on his long experience, gut instincts, and sharp ability to read an audience, he didn’t pull any of the ads. “You can’t run from fear,” he said. “We stand behind what we did.”
Schottenstein personally approved the ads. A bunch of so-called marketing experts predicted the campaign would tank sales and hurt American Eagle’s reputation. Wrong again, lunkheads. What the hell do these MBA toads know anyway?
Instead, American Eagle’s sales jumped big time after the Sweeney campaign, bringing in nearly a million new customers. The denim jacket Sweeney wore sold out in a day, and the jeans were gone in a week.
American Eagle bucked the backlash and stayed the course. They stuck to their guns and it paid off. Schottenstein is a goddamn smart ad guy, Gin Bottle Garvey. He surrounds himself with people of diverse ages, backgrounds, and beliefs, and he asks a lot of questions. When you think about all the safe, lame advertising out there, maybe brands ought to hire more old geezers like Jay Schottenstein.
Hey, creative sells. Keep your dukes up.
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