When Abercrombie & Fitch publicly requested Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino, a character in MTV's TV show The Jersey Shore to cease wearing A&F products, a media statement was distributed with the title, "ABERCROMBIE & FITCH PROPOSES A WIN-WIN SITUATION" in which the company stated:
"We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino's association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes, but believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, and may be distressing to many of our fans."
However, according to The New York Times Michael S. Jeffries, Abercrombie’s chairman and chief executive, said on Wednesday that the company was “having a lot of fun” with the proposed payoff.
Additionally, as Abercrombie & Fitch saw its stock take a slight tumble of close to 10 percent the day after the announcement, Jeffries told investors that "(e)ven in an environment where price is increasingly important, you have to be a desirable brand that clearly stands for something in the eye of the consumer. With regard to marketing and customer engagement, we have made progress, but we still see plenty of opportunity ahead of us..."
Some marketing experts say that companies publicize something that they know won't happen as 'shock value,' only to attract attention to the brand and hopefully additional sales for its products and services.
One negative ad campaign that paid of quite well for its brand was Apple's "Get A Mac" ad series. According to BNET, Apple spent $486 million on advertising in 2008 and focused its TV commercials on comparing a hip, young guy to represent Mac while an older, overweight guy represented PCs.
Not only was it successful, it was re-tooled when Microsoft had extensive issues with its Windows Vista 2007 release. Apple's 30-second commercials made fun of every aspect of the Windows Vista product continuing to use the young, hip Mac guy paired up with overweight and awkward PC character.
When asked if its announcement to pay "The Situation" not to wear its brand was an attempt to use negative advertising to boost says, Abercrombie & Fitch stated, "there are no further comments at this time."
What do you think?
Will Abercrombie & Fitch will find success with its campaign against MTV's reality show, The Jersey Shore?
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