"How dare you! Oh... F-C-U-K. I thought it said..." That just about sums up the attention-grabbing marketing ploy of naughty-but-nice British fashion retailer French Connection, reborn in 1997 under the brand "FCUK". Borrowing shock tactics in equal measure from 1970s punk rock group the Sex Pistols and rival clothing retailer Benetton, the controversial campaign was an enormous success for several years. While many mainstream fashion brands such as Levi's and Gap struggl ed to reinvent themselves for a new generation of shoppers, French Connection was firing on all cylinders through the late 1990s and early 2000s, with record profits and rapid expansion worldwide. By late 2004, however, sales had begun to slow significantly in the UK, and the company announced plans to drop the FCUK slogan from its advertising. Click here to access the Adbrands profile (subscribers only); or subscribe to Adbrands.net here. Adbrands Company Profiles provide a detailed analysis of the history and current operations of leading advertisers, agencies and brands worldwide, and include a critical summary which identifies key strengths and weaknesses. Adbrands Account Assignments tracks account management for the world's leading brands and companies, including details of which advertising agency handles which accounts in which countries for major markets..

Advertising: Click here for a listing of FCUK Agency Account Assignments from Adbrands.net 

Competitors: see Clothing and& nbsp;Retail Sector indexes for other companies