h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I really hate this label. It was (slightly) funny for about half a second, but the joke has truly worn thin now.

It seems entirely inappropriate to have clothing with the fcuk label paraded everywhere. My children are old enough to read, but not old enough to understand this feeble 'joke' - and yet if they walk down the high-street they're exposed to this kind of trash.

(I'm getting to be an 'boring old fart' aren't I?)

Yes, I'm afraid you are.

A few years back, I had a shirt made by "le coq sportif" (the Sporty Cock). Slightly higher-class humor, I guess.

But only slightly.

Some time ago there was a quiz show featuring adverts and the man behind the French Connection campaign was one of the guests.

Tony Hawks introduced him with:

"... if you ever wondered which T-A-W-T thought that one up, here he is"

Boring old fart? Maybe. But you were spot on.

The FCUK management team were very clever. They realised that a range of clothing with FCUK written on it would a) attract attention and b) cause outrage with most parents. I believe these are the two things most teenagers look for when purchasing designer clothing. Therefore, the range sells and sells.

However, as you rightly point out, many young children will not see the "clever" euphemism, but will simply see the word "F*CK", albeit incorrectly spelt, on t-shirts, on hats and on jeans.

It's tacky, it's unfunny and it's time for French Connection to get a new idea.

Judge

Couldn't agree more - clever but crass!

On the other hand, my step children are old enough to be into exactly that kind of designer wear (late-teens early twenties) and they don't wear fcuk stuff either. They recognise that it's crass too!

Also, in a similar vein, how about that anti-wrinkle cream containing 'Boswelox' - now that's clever advertising - designed to attract attention but not really so offensive... (But I digress...)

The T A W T behind the French Connection ads is one of my mates!

We used to work together at the same advertising agency and spent lots of time together going out drinking and to things like Iggy Pop concerts. He's a lovely guy who just loves to stir things up a bit.

He also did the 'Hello Girls! wonderbra ads.

I'm sure he's lovely.

But "The evil that men do..."

.. boswellox in the skin cream is actually a derivitive of boswellia carteri, the latin name for Frankincense, which has been used cosmetically - amongst other usages since Adam was a lad. Sorry to join the pedantic crew.... my first thought was that it sounded a little bit naughty, too - and then professional training took over, and I read the ingredients. (I'm an aromatherapist, btw)
I wouldn't like to guarantee that the cream would actually do what it says on the tin, though... lets face it, most advertising IS a load of old B*****ks anyway!

most of the time at first glance i read it as my mind expects it to be and not as it is ...

surely those who wear it are FCUKWITS?

*apologies to Lord Gnome

nice one mate

The products are poor-and the people that wear the stuff look like desperate little girlies (and that's the guys)

You just look at them and shake your head thinking 'wow-desperate to be looked it or what?'

Me, I prefer to take my bra off and wear an American football shirt lol.

Peta, did you mean hello *girls*?
I thought the Hello Boys one must have been done by a man but I'm not sure I've seen the hello girls one.

Thresholds are constantly being raised whether our society has the ability to deal with them or not. There were days when men went "Phwoar!" at a woman's shoulder, leg or midriff being shown. It is taking more and more to get our eyebrows to raise and I think the advertising industry takes that as a personal challenge.

How many people went "What?!" at the Renault Megane advertising campaign and the use of a song with "Shake your @ss" during prime time TV. Not many I guess.

Are we more liberal (which I kind of like) or are we more disrespectful - which means we think less of each other.

No definitely 'hello Boys!'

What was the models name, something like Christina Hertivagova?

Very lovely volupuous lady in a black bra in the ad. Very eye catching.

I thought it was great because there had been so many (justified) complaints about ads using scantily-clad women totally inappropriately that advertisers became scared to use them at all.

But in this instance, selling bras, it *was* totally justified, it just took some balls to do it in such a blatently sexy way, at a time when it was politically incorrect to show a woman in anything other than a duffle coat and balaclava!

it was eva herzigova

The reason everyone reads FCUK as F*CK is this:

"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't
mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt
tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers are in the rghit pclae. The
rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a
porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but
the wrod as a wlohe."

Re that 'boswellox' stuff - First time I saw the ad I thought they'd made up the name to sound a bit like 'botox' - thus implying that their stuff would have a similar rejuvenating effect without those nasty needles.

I think the name WAS made up to imply just that... if they put "with added Frankincense" on the pot, it just wouldn't sell. Frankincense would probably conjure up religious connotations to some people, and to others it wouldn't mean, erm, s**t(well, this is a thread about swearing, isn't it?). Any sort of grease plumps up the skin, anyway; its called rehydration but Frankisence is very very good in sorting out dry or very sensitive skins, as it *preserves* the "top layer" of skin and promotes rejuvination of the skin cells . (Sorry, got my professional hat on at the moment), so technically, yes, the bosthingyox stuff will plump out the skin. (Though if you look at the amount of natural oil in proportion to the more chemical stuffs, I would be amazed if it was as efficient as its claimed.

Here endeth the lecture!

Worked well for French Connection, though. Before that idea they had a middle-aged, 1970s image, and were probably on the point of going down the tubes.

It also gave rise to one of the best (IMO) TV ads of recent years... the one where every word of dialog begins with the letters F, C, U, K respectively.....it began with a girl arriving at a party with a large cake box......

"Fantasy Cakes Unlimited!?"
"Kitchen...."

I liked it, anyway