Martha Stewart Wraps the Gifts in American Eagle”

Source: American Eagle

Smart move, American Eagle … and you didn’t make it about the jeans. You made it about the occasion.

American Eagle just launched a new campaign featuring Martha Stewart called "Martha Wraps the Gifts in AE," and it's exactly what it sounds like. Martha Stewart is positioned as the expert (because she is) who wraps your holiday gifts but this time in American Eagle denim.

The strategic brilliance here is that American Eagle isn't trying to convince the younger generation to buy their jeans like they did with Sydney Sweeney. They're inviting their parents and grandparents into the conversation. They're saying, “your kids wear our jeans so they should receive them as gifts from you, and Martha's going to show you how.”

Brilliant.

This isn't Martha's first rodeo with brand partnerships. She's been collaborating with retailers for decades. Kmart. Macy's. QVC. Wayfair. Michaels. Staples. Amazon. She's built entire product lines and lifestyle categories around her name and style. Cookware, bedding, home décor, garden supplies, even paint. She understands the business of brand extension better than almost anyone in America. So when Martha partners with a brand, it's not a celebrity endorsement. It's a strategic alignment.

She’s the brand.

But there's a second layer to this, and it matters. American Eagle just came off the Sydney Sweeney campaign, which felt edgy and provocative and perhaps landed differently than they intended. This Martha Stewart partnership feels like a deliberate repositioning. Maybe it’s a reset. It says, “we're not trying to be controversial … we're trying to be a brand that works across generations … we're trying to be accessible and authentic and grounded in actual American style, not manufactured edge.” That’s my take on it.

Martha Stewart represents exactly what American Eagle needed to say after that cultural moment, in this holiday moment.

She's classic. She's authoritative. She's proof that good taste doesn't require being shocking. Plus, she's still genuine in her own right, right now with Gen Z and older generations simultaneously. She's still cool, which means American Eagle can borrow that credibility without looking desperate.

Just ask The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

Brilliant. A really smart positioning, with smart casting, and really smart timing not just because of the holidays but because of the sequence of events. Martha knows how to do this. American Eagle knows what they need. And that's how you build something that actually works.

Well played.

What’s your experience? JIM