Abercrombie Pays ‘The Situation’ to Wear Someone Else’s Clothes
14 September 2012
It might be the first case of paid product placement which pays you to not use the product.
Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has offered Mike Sorrentino, better known to fans of MTV’s low-brow reality show Jersey Shore as The Situation, “substantial payment to wear an alternate brand.”
“We are deeply concerned that Mr Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image,” an Abercrombie & Fitch spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”
MTV, part of Viacom Inc, released its own statement, calling the offer a clever PR stunt.
“We’d love to work with them on other ways they can leverage Jersey Shore to reach the largest youth audience on television,” the statement said.
The reality show, which is in its fourth season, follows the adventures of the hard-partying cast on the Jersey Shore on the east coast of the US. The current season is based in Florence, Italy.
