A new commercial has people talking about eugenics again โ more than the actual product itโs selling. How did we get here?
On July 29, Dunkinโ introduced a pair of new Refreshers to its menu. To launch one of them โ the Golden Hour Refresher โ the brand partnered (again) with โThe Summer I Turned Prettyโ star Gavin Casalegno for a new video posted on social media.
โLook, I didnโt ask to be the king of summer, it just kinda happened,โ Casalegno says at the start of the 35-second spot. โThis tan? Genetics.โ
Casalegno then talks about his color analysis โliterallyโ coming back โgolden summerโ as he lounges by a pool with a Refresher in hand.
โCanโt help it โ every time I drink a Golden Hour Refresher, itโs like the sun just finds me,โ he says. โSo if sipping these refreshers makes me the king of summer? Guilty as charged.โ
Instead of being flooded with fans excited to try the new drinks, the adโs comments section is full of people wondering why a certain word was used in the script.
โwhy are ads so obsessed with genetics all of a sudden,โ asked one TikTok user โ referencing Sydney Sweeneyโs controversial American Eagle campaign โ and they were far from the only one with that question.
โWhat in the Sydney Sweeney did I just watch,โ asked one more.
Representatives for Casalegno and Dunkinโ did not immediately respond to TODAY.comโs request for comment.
The โEuphoriaโ actorโs campaign, which aims to sell the clothing companyโs new denim line, is centered around the tagline โSydney Sweeney has great jeans,โ a double entendre critics say promotes the idea that Sweeney โ blonde, blue eyed and white โ is genetically superior.
A representative for Sweeney declined to comment to NBC News. American Eagle also did not respond to a request for comment.
Some Dunkinโ customers are feeling so icky about the situation, they say theyโre forgoing their usual coffee run.
โK so skipping my Dunkin for today,โ commented one user.
โiโll go to starbucks today ig,โ wrote another.
โSo no American Eagle or Dunkinโ got it,โ said one more.
And others are clearly just not โTeam Jeremiahโ since Casalegno plays Jeremiah Fisher in โThe Summer I Turned Pretty.โ
The seriesโ main conflict is driven by its main character, Belly (Lola Tung), choosing between Jeremiah and his older brother Conrad (Christopher Briney).
โWe are team conrad dunkinโฆ.,โ wrote sone such person.
