Friday, September 26, 2003

A Fine Line Between Clever & Stupid

Last month I brought up the disturbing appearance of FCUK products at Marshall Field's. Now a parents group in St. Paul is threatening to boycott Marshall Field's and Target over their promotion and sale of the clothing line and fragrance with the not so subtle sexual message.

The St. Paul group is the latest to complain about the brand, which has offended sensibilities of parents and school leaders in other big cities from Chicago to New York to San Francisco.

"When stores just exploit our families with things like this, we just stay away," said Colleen Perfect, president of Catholic Parents OnLine. "This isn't just a Catholic issue; it affects everyone."


This is apparently just the latest example of "edgy" advertising designed to push the boundaries and appeal to younger consumers. But FCUK might have gone too far:

But although the controversy over this latest shock campaign is having the desired effect -- producing attention and sales for FCUK products -- one marketing expert questions whether the shock strategy is wise in the long run.

"It's pretty easy to do shock," said John Colasanti, president of the Minneapolis-based ad agency Carmichael Lynch. "It's one of the first things creative teams come up with in an assignment. But you get it out of your system and move on.

"It's clever, but it isn't really smart," he said. "It's short-term gain, but at what expense? A brand wants to appeal to its target, but it shouldn't offend anybody. You never burn bridges. Why alienate people from the get-go?"


Why is it considered clever? As Colasanti says it is easy to shock. And although it's getting less and less easy as we continually push the limits of what is considered acceptable why should companies that lamely resort to the "shock tactic" be praised for their cleverness?

In case you're one of those people (like me) who doesn't really appreciate the "in your face", "hit you over the head" style of the FCUK approach just remember that it's not serious:

Amy Glickman, a spokeswoman for French Connection, said the FCUK line is meant to be taken tongue in cheek.

"It's bold, witty, intelligent, and demonstrates how French Connection has given real personality to its brand, a rare achievement in today's crowded market," she said in an e-mail.


Bold? How about arrogant?

Witty? Yeah, that's real witty the way you rearranged the letters of an obscenity like that. Color me impressed.

Intelligent? Only a spokesperson could so abuse the meaning of a word.

As to the "personality" of the brand I find the "I'm with stupid" t-shirt label to be much more appealing. And clever.

From: The Elder

To: French Connection United Kingdom

Go FCUK yourselves.

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