FCUK - Would you wear it??? YCUK

What is it, dehydrated musk ox glands with a dab of alcohol?

The brand FCUK has been around in Britain for a good few years now. It stands for French Connection U.K., and they make some nice clothes, except for alot of it having stupid FCUK slogans across the front. Examples are:

Mail-order website: www.fcukbymail.com
"Fashion's not important? Like FCUK"

And so on in a similar vein. Like I said, most of the stuff is pretty good and not as highly priced as Versace, Armani etc (but still pricey).

Some ad-man somewhere's probably retired on the idea of "FCUK".

I use one of their deodorants. And it's pretty fine.

I take your word for it that their stuff is wonderful. Their name SCUKS!

Just the thought of that name on a product turns me off!

There were many cries of indecency from the middle-aged middle-classes here when they first started with the slogan FCUK. Especially when it's in 4ft letters across a billboard in the middle of towns!

Everyone seems to have got used to it by now, and they seem to be able to get away with whatever they fancy. I guarantee in a few years FCUK will be all over N America and no-one will bat an eyelid.

Such is the price of 'progress'...?

Grand Duke- But wouldn't "Ecstacy" or "Fascination" or some such thing convery the exact same message, without grossing some people out?

I think that they are marketing to a VERY young crowd. I'll have some Chanel #5, or even Joy, thank you!

I already boycot Fudruckers. I just refuse to get used to some of these things.

The market here is mid-teens to early 30's. They used to market as French Connection, and they are still refered to in shops & magazines etc as such, but the marketing is under FCUK. So I guess they don't want to rename the company. As a stand-ou slogan, it's pretty good, even it offends some people. There is a (much less well-known) clothing company (mainly skate-wear) called "Fuct". I have some of their t-shirts, and teachers at college tried to stop me wearing them, until I sucessfully argued that as it's not a real word, where's the harm? I'm older now, and such things don't bother me, but I can't see the harm in any of it. It's just a word, and not even a real one. The implied reference is obvious, but what can anyone do to stop them, as they are breaking no laws?

The general public won't go out of their way to protest it, but a good general boycot would change these companies' minds in a hurry.

Controversy is the chariot of fashion...I'm certain this will fly off the shelves very fast, especially in the market it's designed for, young people. Although a tad vulgar, I think, after reading Grand Duke's comments, that it is a bit clever, and why not? When we start getting offended by words, it's a shy step away from burning books.

I've found some news about the FCUK adverts here in Britain:

"The French Connection campaign continued to cause controversy: the fashion retailer now has its advertisements pre-vetted. "The ASA has consistently ruled against the use of fcuk as an expletive or a substitute word in a sentence," the authority said in its annual report.""

http://media.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4405541-105235,00.html

"Adverts that caused a stir in the past include French Connection's "FCUK Fashion" campaign. The ASA upheld complaints against the campaign including one poster which read "FCUK the Advertising Standards Authority".

Spokeswoman for French Connection, Lilli Anderson, said that the FCUK campaign was a big success, despite the fact that the posters had to be withdrawn. She said that the slogans helped to brand the store and give it a definite image. "We sold a lot of FCUK T-shirts," she said."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/140490.stm

"And linguist Peter Tan noted many people now used the word FCUK on the internet in place of the expletive in order to avoid filters.

French Connection saw its profits increase by 84% in the first half of last year, which it attributed directly to the launch of its FCUK advertising campaign in Britain."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/820975.stm

So they can use 'fcuk' here, but only as a brand-name, not a word. Makes sense to me, and it seems to be here for good...

Like I said Monger, the clothes aren't bad, and the perfumes/aftershaves aren't bad either. I can't see what the fuss is all about.

I see FCUK clothes all the time. Big friggin' deal. It definitely draws attention.

If anything in Britain, it's oversaturated. There's that much logo'd stuff around, it's lost alot of the initial shock value. One day the Americans will catch us up and get used to it...

(I'd deleted & reposted instead of just editing for some reason so that's why duke's first responce to me is before my post above.) Anywho..I agree duke.
By the way, if loads of people were to boycott fcuk stuff that would probably be the only thing that'd make me go out of my way to wear their gear.

With edgarblythe on this one.

My daughter got some of their clothes a couple years ago. We'd seen their ads in Spain and wondered what the heck, but I liked the humor of her tee shirt that said something like:

"Come over snog and me here"

(That's not quite it... but I couldn't find the shirt. One of her gf's may have snagged it.)

There are a couple of their shops here. I like the clothes. The name doesn't bother me one way or the other.

I'm not a prude, I have the mouth of trucker at times, but I believe perfumes should have pleasant names. If I want to walk out with that JGF scent....