American Eagle rallies as Trump touts Sydney Sweeney jeans ad

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. shares surged after U.S. President Donald Trump came out in support of a controversial ad from the company.

The spot, with the actress Sydney Sweeney, is the “HOTTEST ad out there,” Trump said in a social media post. He added American Eagle jeans are “flying of off the shelves.” Trump deleted an earlier post, in which he misspelled the actress’ first name.

The stock jumped as much as 16%, the biggest gain intraday since May 12. Through last week’s close, the shares had declined 36% this year.

The apparel retailer launched an ad blitz in July with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” One of the campaign’s videos plays on the same-sounding word “genes” as Sweeney zips up her jeans and intones that “genes are passed down from parents to offspring often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color.”

“My jeans are blue,” she adds, flashing her blue eyes at the camera.

The video sparked a debate online about whether the focus on the genes of a white, blonde woman conjured up the racist theory of eugenics. Other social media users have said critics are reading too much into the ads.