uhuhuhuhuhu he said......
Posted on 01/14/2005 5:27:54 AM PST by freepatriot32
LONDON (Reuters) - UK advertising regulators signaled a weariness of the double entendre used by French Connection to sell its FCUK brand and warned the clothing chain again, this time over a promotion for its line of fragrances.
In an ad placed for French Connection by Zirh International in the Boots pharmacy chain's magazine, a picture of a young couple sitting on a bed in their underwear included fold-out samples of perfume with the phrases "open here to try fcuk her" and "open here to try fcuk him."
Though it received just two complaints, the UK's self-regulatory Advertising Standards Authority said on Wednesday the advert was likely to cause serious or widespread offence to the magazine's readers and warned the advertisers not to do it again.
It is the 13th time since 1999 that the ASA has published an adjudication regarding French Connection's adverts and the ninth time it has agreed with the complaints submitted.
The company is currently required to submit its outdoor adverts to the ASA for approval before they are posted, the second two-year sanction to which it has been subjected.
The first time -- from March 2001 to 2003 -- French Connection voluntarily submitted all its adverts, including those for magazines, to the ASA for review, a spokeswoman for the regulator said.
French Connection argued this time around that the phrases used the company's trademark, were clearly labeled as such and were to make clear they could open the fold-outs to sample the perfumes named 'him' and 'her'.
It also said Boots manufactures FCUK beauty products and regularly puts the brand in its "Health & Beauty" magazine, which has a circulation of about 1.8 million.
The ASA said, however, that in the context of the ad, the phrases "could be interpreted as 'f---,' not just as the advertiser's brand name."
"The Authority reminded Zirh International Corp. that it had previously made clear in published adjudications that 'fcuk' should not be used in an advertisement if it could be interpreted as 'f---' and was concerned that they had done so in the advertisement," the regulator said.
The existing laws on taste and decency prohibit the ASA from handing out more severe sanctions against French Connection, the spokeswoman said.
The FCUK logo has courted controversy since its launch in 1997. Fashion mavens say the rebellious hip factor that helped catapult the brand to success has long since worn off.
French Connection issued a profit warning last November, but blamed a lack of fashion vision rather than the FCUK brand.
uhuhuhuhuhu he said......
I dont' get it.
I don't either. Could it be that we're way too old or something?
The French should all just FCUK off.......
Quoth Soupy Sales:
What's the matter with you? Every time I write "F" you see "K"!
what dont you get the article or the cartoon i posted under it ?
"Fashion mavens say the rebellious hip factor that helped catapult the brand to success has long since worn off."
Indeed it has - both my daughters (12 + 13) know exactly what word is intended and figure that if the store needs to resort to such tricks their clothes can't be any good.
These are the stores that liberals with so called values shop at dont ya know.
After several people I know and I complained to the local dept. store about offensive mailings with this questionable company, they decided not to carry them anymore or be associated with their tacky little marketing ploy. I'm not saying I changed their minds, but if enough people band together and communicate effectively, things can change for the better. Just look at the WH and Congress. ;)
"Open here to try French Connection United Kingdom her."
Maybe I'm just completely ignorant of fashion lingo. I have never heard of FCUK prior to this post. Is it a French or British company?
At any rate, I wish them every success in their targeted advertising scheme, if for no other reason than government attempts to silence them.
I guess some dyslexics must've complained.
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