By Theresa Howard, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — Marketers on Santa's naughty list for using overtly sexual selling tactics to target teens for the holidays are trying to get onto the nice list — and consumer shopping lists — by curbing their racy messages.
Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), which on Thursday reported a 13% dip in November comparable store sales vs. last year, has pulled the racy holiday edition of its quarterly catalog, which featured naked models and tips for oral sex.
And Zirh fragrances, which raised controversy in September with new FCUK Him and FCUK Her and ended up pulling them in October, has changed labels to spell out the licensed brand name as French Connection United Kingdom. The hope is that the scents will be more acceptable to retailers and shoppers — especially teens, who don't like to feel manipulated.
"This is a very sharp group of young people," says Ann Fishman, president of Generational Targeted Marketing. "They know more about marketing than Madison Avenue. What these two companies have done is, in a heavy-handed way, try to manipulate through the use of sex. Any kind of advertising plan that goes over the line is spotted and rejected in a minute."
Though Abercrombie says the catalogs were pulled to free up display space for a new product, the move also came after the organization of a boycott of the 347-store chain by the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families.
The boycott effort continues. "The bottom line is that even if Abercrombie & Fitch is no longer selling the quarterly in its stores, the company continues to push the wrong messages on teens," said coalition head Rick Schatz in a statement.
Abercrombie has thrived on such controversy in the past, but racy marketing is no longer driving sales. The chain is in a nearly three-year drought in positive same-store sales results.
"They need to examine the marketing themes," says Dawn Stoner, specialty-retailing analyst at Pacific Growth Equities, which downgraded Abercrombie after the release of November sales. "The poster of naked boys in the store, the soft porn feel to the magazine, maybe they have gone to the well too long. It's not new anymore."
Abercrombie spokesman Hampton Carney says the catalogs were slated to be in stores just six weeks vs. the normal eight weeks. He says space needed for a new fragrance, rather than consumer complaints, necessitated the removal of the catalogs.
"One thing has nothing to do with the other," he says. "Every inch is valuable real estate for us, especially at the holiday season."
For its part, Zirh concedes that its risqué selling shtick did not sit well — but only after Federated Department Stores pulled the fragrance and apparel branded with FCUK and magazines stopped running ads for the scents with the message: "Scent to bed."
May Department Stores, which did not drop the brand, and Federated are now selling the spelled-out versions.
A revised ad campaign will resume in the second quarter, says Zirh spokeswoman Stacy Gubinski.
"We will still market with fun and irreverence. However, much of the controversial nature of the campaign will be toned down," she says. "The goal is to be able to successfully market the brand while ... making it conceptually acceptable to retail partners and their customers."
