American Marketing Association News: "FRENCH Connection is to abandon its notorious FCUK slogan after a dramatic slump in sales.
The High Street fashion chain will ditch the smutty logo, which is splashed across clothes and other products, when it launches next year's spring and summer collection.
The decision was widely welcomed last night. Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said: 'It's about time too.
It has simply coarsened sensibilities and was always unnecessary.' John Beyer, director of Mediawatch, said: 'We had people call us after their children had seen it and asked what it meant. It's high time the firm did this and we welcome their decision.' Catholic author Dwight Longenecker added: 'This was always such an adolescent joke. I always thought they should have been able to come up with something better.' Although company founder Stephen Marks has always defended the logo as simply being the initials for French Connection UK, industry experts say it has lost its appeal and become unfashionable.
Those views were reflected in the company's latest sales figures, which were down nine per cent over the summer, while half-year profits collapsed by 68 per cent, from Pounds 16.2million to Pounds 5.1million.
When the results were unveiled last month, Mark Charnock, of banking group Investec, said: 'I think the FCUK brand is going south. There was a bubble on the back of smutty, mis-spelt expletives. That bubble has gone and there is nothing to bring back customers into the shops.' A senior source at French Connection's PR agency Brunswick, who wanted to remain anonymous, told The Mail on Sunday: 'T-shirts or other garments in the new spring/ summer collection will not have the FCUK logo on the front it may appear on labels but it will be subtle and limited"
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