Major U.S. department store group pulls FCUK products

TomF

This may not be the right forum for posting this news, but other forums (sorry, I don't use Latin plurals, ) might not get the exposure, so here goes.

My reaction is to say that it is good news. I was very annoyed when I first saw the products stacked in a shop in Cork, and was tempted to put my boot into the stack and send it flying. I hope the loss of business will hurt French Connection Group PLC where such people really feel it, in their balance sheet. I recognise that this will spur much soap-box oratory on the part of outraged"advocates of free speech, with much huffing and puffing about "censorship", "blue-noses" and "right wing fundamentalism" but all the same, I gotta love it!

Getting to the original URL is a lot of trouble involving registration, disclosure, etc., so I just copied some of the most interesting part.

http://startribune.com/stories/340/4121782.html

"A major department-store group has pulled the controversial FCUK line of clothing and fragrances from most of its stores, saying the products are 'not something we wanted to be associated with.'

Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores Inc. said Friday that it pulled its FCUK branded line this week from more than 400 stores nationwide. The company also said it has canceled all its advertising for FCUK products. Federated owns seven chains, including Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Burdines. The company posted sales of $15.4 billion last year.

'We simply did not feel it was appropriate for our stores,' said Carol Sanger, vice president of corporate affairs. 'The current season's merchandise really pushed the envelope on their product lines. The national advertising campaign was really over the top in terms of lack of taste, and that has really precipitated people paying attention to this line, which is not really that big to begin with.'

FCUK stands for French Connection United Kingdom. The products are sold by the British company French Connection Group PLC, which trades on the London Stock Exchange. French Connection Group posted profits of $34 million last year on sales of $400 million.

FCUK products have been advertised this fall with a sexually provocative campaign that plays off the initials. Perfume ads use the tag line, 'FCUK -- Scent to Bed,' and invitations for a New York launch party read, 'FCUK in progress.'

Sanger said Federated stores would not carry FCUK products for the duration of the fall season, except for its 31 Bloomingdale's stores. 'Bloomingdale's is a different animal,' she said.

However, managers at the Bloomingdale's store in the Mall of America in Bloomington said the FCUK colognes and apparel were pulled from the store this week. Federated's only other store in Minnesota is a Macy's, also at the Mall of America."

mike65

Well the only thing I could possibly say is "FCUK ME!"

Mike.

The Beer Baron

Pfft!- americans!
I mean I think those FCUK t-shirts are about as funny as Richie Kavanagh's "Aon Focail Eile" and appeal to the same lowest common denomenator who bought Richie's album.

Why they'd bother to "censor" it is beyond me. I mean, it certainly goes along with everything I think of when I think of americans. But really on this one I think they see it, as I do- tacky and tasteless dross. Macy's and Bloomingdales- being upmarket places.

Or there's another thought that springs to mind- perhaps they're afraid that they'll be sued by some dyslexic-rights group. Which, once again, goes along with everything I think of when I think of americans- in other words
BLLOCKS

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

sovtek

Originally posted by The Beer Baron
Pfft!- americans!
I mean I think those FCUK t-shirts are about as funny as Richie Kavanagh's "Aon Focail Eile" and appeal to the same lowest common denomenator who bought Richie's album.

A sure fire marketing strategy would have been TV ads showing
people in FCUK shirts killing cops. :rolleyes:

The Beer Baron

nah- then Wal Mart would ban them- like they banned Ice SVU, I mean Ice T.

sovtek

Originally posted by The Beer Baron
nah- then Wal Mart would ban them- like they banned Ice SVU, I mean Ice T.

That's my point. An Austin,Texas based police union put pressure on his record company and Wal-Mart. In the end a mediocre band and a mediocre album sold millions.
I wonder if those Wal-Mart version In Utero CD's (rape me was changed to waife me) are worth anything these days.

bonkey

Mostly offtopic and possibly apocryphal, but I had heard that WalMart had started selling Magic: The Gathering cards again. Apparently, the Christian Fundamentalist groups were too focussed on slamming Muslim Fundamen...errr..Extremism....post 9/11 to be bothered getting distracted by those "demonic" card games any more...

jc

This has got to be a joke. Surely its not that bad in the US? I've seen the new fcuk Series of clothes, and i love them. I certainly don't see anything worse than some of the fashion outfits that are completely see-thru or promoting rebel sympathies.. Its all horse****...

sovtek

Originally posted by klaz
This has got to be a joke. Surely its not that bad in the US? I've seen the new fcuk Series of clothes, and i love them. I certainly don't see anything worse than some of the fashion outfits that are completely see-thru or promoting rebel sympathies.. Its all horse****...

Yes it is all horsesh1t. What I think goes on is that some marketing exec gets nervous that some seriously backwards religious freaks MIGHT freak out and threaten to not buy their stuff...which will get on the news and "ruin" their image. Of course they wouldn't be the people that would buy their stuff anyway, but what huge corporation doesn't worry about the possible elimination of a market.
It reminds me of a comment in another thread here about website copy being "dumbed down" for Americans. I could be wrong but it's the companies that THINK they have to dumb down. After all we are all just unwashed slobs that provide them with great amounts of wealth but are too stupid to think for ourselves.

s0l

It's another example of right-wing christian mama papa group types telling mall owners that if they don't stop that evil shop from selling those filthy awful Perverse records/clothes/games/books that they'll fill their mall with angry ignorant picketers and give them rediculas amounts of bad press. Which means shops get screwed over for business (although granted that in this case it was a country wide chain) and run into the ground.

oh lord bless us and save us, won't somebody please think of the children!

SkepticOne

Originally posted by TomF
I recognise that this will spur much soap-box oratory on the part of outraged"advocates of free speech, with much huffing and puffing about "censorship", "blue-noses" and "right wing fundamentalism"

LOL, got that right.

s0l

Even if I do think that the FCUK brand is stupid, it's really worrying when you see an inoffensive crap joke taken that way =/