Whether he’s on the job at the T-shirt shop, hitting on women at the shore house, or strolling the red carpet, Sorrentino is frequently found sporting brightly colored A&F sweatpants emblazoned with their brand. You would think the company would appreciate the free advertizing since Jersey Shore is one of the most popular shows on MTVs line up and appears to appeal to a large portion of their demographic.
Maybe A & F doesn’t want it to though. After the latest pair of their sweatpants went to G.T.L. (the show’s now famous abbreviation for gym, tan and laundry) the board members rolled their eyes for the last time and decided to do something about it. They put out a press release stating:
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. We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast, and are urgently waiting a response.It seems a little silly after A & F has produced and promoted t-shirts with phrases like “The Fituation” and “G.T.L.” but Nomura Securities Analyst Peter Lejuez reports it’s a move to manage the company’s overseas reputation. He speculates that the antics of the Situation and his party going housemates will be off putting to European clientele.
MTV thinks the whole thing is a publicity stunt and responded with a statement that said, "We'd love to work with them on other ways they can leverage Jersey Shore to reach the largest youth audience on television." Wall Street Strategies analyst Brian Sozzi agrees saying that the buzz will help entice back to school shoppers.
Whatever the motivation, the timing of the press release couldn’t have been worse for A&F as it came out right before the report of their quarterly earnings and despite exceeding expectations and posting a profit, stocks fell 8.7 percent. Though the events weren’t directly related, the Situation doesn’t mind having the last laugh and taking a little credit over the “substantial payment” A &F initially offered.
By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for RetailGigsBlog.com, she is co-founder of design and promotion company. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.
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