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    22
    Mar
    2013
    12:13pm, EDT

    Surprise! Very, very skinny jeans in viral ad don't exist

    By Eun Kyung Kim, TODAY contributor

    American Eagle Outfitters shows its cheeky side in a video ad for a new pair of skinny jeans so tight, they’re practically sprayed on.

    That’s because they are.

    It takes a brave person to wear the AEO Skinny Skinny, hawked in a 30-second faux ad going viral. The video features young people expressing ways to emphasize their creativity and individuality – and their preference for jeans that feel like almost nothing.

    The video contains a link to American Eagle’s website, where limited edition cans of the spray on jeans are sold for $49.95 each. (They’re available in “indigo” or “bright” wash.)

    But snap! Try adding the cans to your shopping bag and you get the following pop-up message:

    “Sorry! The AEO Skinny Skinny is temporarily sold out. Enter your email below and we’ll let you know when the Skinny Skinny is back in stock!”

    For the record, Skinny Skinny spray-on jeans don’t exist, said Bob Holobinko, vice president of brand marketing for American Eagle.

    "We are not selling it, just to be clear,” he clarified Friday on TODAY, as two models showed off the "jeans." The brave pair were painted for the appearance in conjunction with CollegeHumor.com. 

    “We just wanted to have fun, and have fun with our fans,” he said. “And it was a good opportunity to kind of push it from a brand standpoint and the response has been incredible.”

    The YouTube video has generated more than 348,000 views so far.

    Story: How to find your dream jeans

    In the ad, one young man says, “I like skinny jeans. Sometimes they’re not skinny enough.” He is then shown skateboarding wearing a jacket and nothing below but some dark blue spray paint.

    A woman declares, “I love really skinny jeans,” before the camera shows a tight shot of her "Avatar"-blue derriere.

    Peter Shankman, an independent marketing consultant, called the campaign “brilliant.” Although people watching the ad knows the product is fake, it still draws them to the retailer’s website.

    “Let’s be honest, when was the last time you heard about a good American Eagle ad?” he said. “It was a while ago. So this is phenomenal. A great way to bust out from the mainstream. People are talking about it.”

    Holobinko said the video is the first installment of a campaign they consider “a journey.” A second release will be issued next week and people who enter their email on the “Skinny Skinny” site will get additional information.

    “So for all of our customers that have come along with us, there’s going to be a really great reveal at the very end,” he said.

    Although some may consider the commercial daring, Holobinko said they were very careful putting the final product together.

    “We knew we were putting ourselves out there, I think that was the goal,” he said. “But even through the edit and through the filtering process we had to be cautious of what we were showing. But we think we landed in a good spot.”

    More: Frugal Friday: How to save money on those pricey pets 
    Pepsi bottle gets a makeover after 17 years 

    34 comments

    "Sorry! The AEO Skinny Skinny is temporarily sold out. Enter your email below and we'll let you know when the Skinny Skinny is back in stock!" Very well done viral video and very funny, all up until the point where they gather emails for future marketing under a totally false pretense. It's misleadi …

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    Explore related topics: style, featured, on-the-show
  • 19
    Mar
    2013
    12:13pm, EDT

    Neiman Marcus, 2 other retailers settle 'faux' fur charges

    By Associated Press
    

    WASHINGTON — The FTC said Tuesday that Neiman Marcus and two other retailers have agreed to settle charges that they claimed certain products were made of "faux" fur when they actually contained real fur.

    In addition to the upscale department store operator, the retailers include DrJays.com Inc. and Eminent Inc., doing business as Revolve Clothing.

    The Federal Trade Commission said the companies also violated federal laws by not naming the animal that the fur came from.

    The FTC also charged that The Neiman Marcus Group Inc. claimed that a rabbit fur product had mink fur, and failed to disclose where the fur came from for three fur products.

    The Neiman Marcus violations involved website claims related to a Burberry Outerwear jacket, a Stuart Weitzman ballerina flat shoe and an Alice + Olivia Kyah coat. Neiman Marcus also misrepresented the fur content of the shoe in its catalog, at bergdorfgoodman.com, and in advertisements mailed to consumers, the FTC said.

    The FTC said DrJays.com misrepresented the fur content and failed to disclose the animal name for a snorkel jacket by Crown Holder with a fur-lined hood, a vest by Knoles & Carter with exterior fur and a New York subway leather bomber jacket by United Face with fur lining.

    Meanwhile, Eminent, doing business as Revolve, misrepresented the fur content and failed to disclose the animal name for four products including fur-trimmed boots, a Mark Jacobs Runway roebling coat, a Dakota Xan fur poncho and an Eryn Brinie belted faux fur vest, the FTC said.

    Under the proposed settlement, the retailers would be prohibited from violating the laws for 20 years.

    The commission approved the consent order for public comment with a 4-0 vote. The deals remain subject to public comment for 30 days, after which the commission will decide whether to make them final.

    27 comments

    Two things...

    Show more
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