Brooke Shields' Jeans Ad Did Not Sit Well: Flashback

Decades before Sydney Sweeney ‘s American Eagle ad campaign sparked online furor, a series of jeans commercials featuring Brooke Shields similarly ignited controversy. In 1980, a 15-year-old Shields starred in a series of print and TV ads for Calvin Klein. One TV spot, in which she delivered the brand’s suggestive tagline — “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” — caused outrage given Shields’ age, leading some networks to decline to run the ads. The campaign also included a commercial in which Shields used wordplay involving “jeans” and “genes,” with Shields stating: “Genes are fundamental in determining the characteristics of an individual and passing on these characteristics to succeeding generations.”

Decades before Sydney Sweeney ‘s American Eagle ad