Sydney Sweeney’s controversial American Eagle ad has sparked a surprise parody video starring none other than Katie Couric.
Earlier this year Sydney, 28, sparked outrage after appearing in an ad for the denim brand, with the campaign’s emphasis on her ‘great jeans’ sparking accusations it was supporting eugenics and far-right politics (the brand has since defended the campaign, insisting it ‘is and always was about the jeans’).
Now, the commercial has served as inspiration for Katie’s new public service announcement advocating for regular colorectal cancer screenings.
A new campaign video from the non-profit devoted to colon cancer, Lead From Behind, not only visually resembles the original campaign, but immediately references it in the very first line.
It begins with Katie, 68, reclining on a hospital bed and wearing an unbuttoned denim top in the same seductive fashion as Sydney did, preparing to undergo a colonoscopy.
‘Speaking of genes,’ she begins. ‘Did you know that the majority of people who develop colon cancer are not genetically predisposed to the disease?
Sydney Sweeney’s controversial American Eagle ad has sparked a surprise parody video starring none other than Katie Couric
Earlier this year Sydney, 28, sparked outrage after appearing in an ad for the denim brand, with the campaign’s emphasis on her ‘great jeans’ sparking accusations it was supporting eugenics and far-right politics
‘That’s why doctors recommend everyone 45 and over get checked,’ she says. ‘Mine are televised.’
Meanwhile, as Katie awaits the exam, doctors glove up for the screening. ‘Can your camera crew back off please?’ one asks.
‘No,’ Katie, who famously underwent a colonoscopy on live television, replies.
In another moment that is clearly inspired by the original American Eagle ad, a voiceover and bold teal font declare: ‘Katie Couric gets regular screenings and if you’re 45 or older, you should too.’
The similarities to the Sydney ad prompted one commenter to write: ‘Love it! @katiecouric you’re such a great role model. Does anyone else pick up on some American Eagle vibes?’
Lead From Behind, an organization which was built in collaboration with Ryan Reynolds and his creative agency Maximum Effort, replied: ‘Wink Wink.’
The disease is one that hits close to home for Katie, who lost her first husband John Paul “Jay” Monahan III to the illness in 1998. He was just 42-years-old.
Cancer has personally impacted Couric in numerous other ways – her sister was 54 when she died of pancreatic cancer and in 2022 the journalist revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Katie and Jay had been married for nine years at the time of his death.
She opened up about her husbands last days in a 2021 interview on The Today Show.
The ad resembles Sydney’s campaign visually, with Katie styled in a similar manner as the Anyone But You actress
Sweeney’s ad was later defended by American Eagle, which released a statement saying the ad ‘is and always was about the jeans’
Couric, who famously underwent a colonoscopy on live television, refused to turn her camera crew away for the screening
This commenter picked up on the Sydney Sweeney references
‘I was so worried about letting go of hope, because I didn’t want Jay to spend whatever time he had left just waiting to die,’ Katie said.
‘I think it takes extraordinary courage to be able to face death, and I think I was too scared, honestly.’
She also wrote about those moments in her 2021 memoir Going There.
‘I did everything I could to keep Jay alive,’ Couric wrote. ‘Looking back, I wish I had done a better job helping him die.’
Since Monahan’s death, Katie founded Stand Up to Cancer, the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health, and has dedicated herself to informing the public about colorectal cancer.
”I’m a grandmother now,’ she told People of her Lead From Behind campaign, noting Jay ‘would’ve been a grandfather … my girls graduated from college and these huge life moments that he’s missed — I don’t want that to happen to other people. And so I think of him often, and think of other Jay Monahans that might be out there, whose lives I can potentially I save with this information. So I feel such an obligation and a responsibility to do that.’
Katie lost her husband John Paul “Jay” Monahan III to colon cancer
Katie and Jay had been married for nine years at the time of his death
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death among men and women in the United States, and it claimed the life of Chadwick Boseman at the age of 43.
In March 2000, Katie had a colonoscopy on live TV to emphasize the importance of the preventative measure.
At the time of Jay’s death, Couric said focusing on her work kept her grounded, per Today.
‘Working was my salvation,’ Couric said.
‘If I was doing a cooking segment, I couldn’t be thinking about, you know, Jay’s latest scan. It helped me maintain my sanity.’
Couric healed and found love again with banker John Molner, whom she married in 2014.
