Being famous can get you a lot of endorsements. Companies will pay you big bucks to carry their brands especially if you are in a TV show. But apparently it’s the opposite for The Situation after Abercrombie & Fitch offers to pay Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino or any cast member of the MTV reality show ‘Jersey Shore’ to stop wearing its clothing because the series is not reflecting the aspirational nature of the brand.
A press releases by the company said, “We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image.”
But this move by Abercrombie and Fitch may just be a marketing ploy to get their brand more popular especially it’s now back-to-school season. Especially since ‘Jersey Shore’ is one of the most-watched reality show on TV and its hard partying cast are becoming more and more popular with teenagers.
“It gets their name further out into the marketplace with one of the hottest brands on TV right now at the peak of the back-to-school season,” said Wall Street Strategies analyst Brian Sozzi. “It’s free marketing. Because the approach is so ridiculous, everybody’s talking about it.”
Brands usually associated or endorsed by celebrities are getting a huge market share. But its not that way all the time. Companies also ruin their relationship with their relationship with derogatory comment about their endorsers. Just like when one company executive made negative remarks about hip hop culture, high profile rappers like Jay-Z boycotted it even if hip hop stars have adopted luxury champagne Cristal as their drink of choice .
CEO Mike Jeffries said they were having a lot of fun at the outrageous offer. MTV called the move a “clever PR stunt” by Abercrombie. “We’d love to work with them on other ways they can leverage ‘Jersey Shore’ to reach the largest youth audience on television,” the network said Wednesday in a statement.
It may be a publicity ploy but analysts say that Jersey Shore’s plot does not exactly rhyme with the brand’s image which is “classic, sexy, preppy teenagers.” “Jersey Shore’ shows 20-something guys and girls getting drunk every night and going out to party,” Laura Ries, president of the Atlanta marketing consultancy Ries & Ries says, “so it clearly does not go with the image they have worked for over a decade to show to the world.”
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