Update: Mike 'The Situation' Loses Abercrombie & Fitch Lawsuit

[JamesG]

Abercrombie & Fitch Will Pay The Situation to Stop Wearing Its Clothes
Aug 17, 2011
by Joyce Eng


Abercrombie & Fitch wants The Situation to take it all off — all of its clothing, that is.

The retailer said Tuesday — in a press release dubbed "Abercrombie & Fitch Proposes a Win-Win Situation" — that it will pay Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino a "substantial" amount of money to stop wearing its apparel on "Jersey Shore".



"We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino's association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image," the statement read.

"We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes, but believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, and may be distressing to many of our fans. ... We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast, and are urgently waiting a response."







A&F has been Sorrentino's brand of choice on "Jersey Shore" since the show premiered in 2009. He typically flashes the logo on his underwear whenever he lifts his shirt and donned a pair of neon green A&F pants in last week's episode.

The company seemed to have capitalized on the extra publicity last year when it released a "Fitchuation" shirt.

"Abercrombie & Fitch, their most popular shirt, they told me, is 'Fitchuation,'" Sorrentino told New York magazine last summer. "I mean, where did they get that from? Obviously from myself."

A&F told The Wall Street Journal that it launched that line as part of its "humor graphic tee assortment."



An e-mail to Sorrentino's rep was not immediately returned.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Abercrom...n-1036443.aspx

[Zoneboy]

They should also consider paying him to drop that stupid name of his.

[robyrob]

i would chip-in to pay him to get off of TV altogether.

[JamesG]

"Jersey Shore's" The Situation Suing Abercrombie & Fitch for $4 Million
Nov 17, 2011
by Lindsay Silberman


Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino of "Jersey Shore" is suing Abercrombie & Fitch to the tune of $4 million, according to court documents obtained by E! News.

The suit stems from a statement the clothing label issued in August — something many considered a publicity stunt -- titled "Abercrombie & Fitch Proposes a Win-Win Situation."


The release stated, "We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino's association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes, but believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, and may be distressing to many of our fans."

The company then offered to pay Sorrentino, in addition to the show's producers, to not wear the label. According to his legal team, this offer was never extended.





Sorrentino's suit claims that Abercrombie & Fitch sells T-shirts featuring the Jersey Shore-coined slogan "GTL...You Know the Deal" and others that read, "The Fitchuation."

His lawyers are calling it a violation of their client's trademarked Jersey Shore catchphrases.


"As a result of Abercrombie & Fitch's publicity campaign, the retailer profited off of the use of a false affiliation with Sorrentino," his legal team says. "It has wrongly used Sorrentino's name, image and likeness for advertising purposes in violation of applicable law."





Sorrentino and his team are hoping for a jury trial, $1 million royalty, and $3 million in damages.

Abercrombie & Fitch did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Jersey-S...h-1039795.aspx

[JamesG]

"Jersey Shore" Star Loses 'Fitchuation' Lawsuit to Abercrombie & Fitch
7/3/2013
by Eriq Gardner


Here's "The Situation," or "Jersey Shore's" Mike Sorrentino, who sued Abercrombie & Fitch when the clothing retailer came out with a T-shirt bearing the phrase "The Fitchuation" and also offered in a press release to pay $10,000 if Sorrentino would not wear A&F clothing on the show.

Here's the outcome, as Sorrentino has now lost his lawsuit that alleged that A&F had committed trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, injury to business reputation and misappropriation of likeness.

A Florida federal judge just granted A&F summary judgment, while shooting down each of Sorrentino's claims.





Sorrentino might have given himself the the nickname "The Situation" because his abs were rock-hard, but U.S. District Judge John O'Sullivan finds his trademark claim over T-shirts to be soft and flabby.

The judge writes, "Although the word 'situation' is not a word that was coined or made up by the plaintiffs, or a word that is obsolete, totally unknown in the language or out of common usage, the Court can discern no relationship between the word 'situation' and the apparel or entertainment services that the plaintiffs provide."





Analyzing other factors including the similarity of "The Situation" to "Fitchuation", Sorrentino fares no better.

"The T-shirt expresses 'The Fitchuation' visually and phonetically different than 'The Situation,'" writes Judge O'Sullivan. "There is no evidence of A&F 'palming off' its T-shirt as that of the plaintiffs where, as here, the T-shirt has the A&F inside label and prominently uses A&F's own famous trademark 'Fitch' as part of the parody."

The judge also notes that Sorrentino didn't offer "Situation" apparel until A&F did so, that Sorrentino doesn't sell his products in retail stores and that the plaintiff hasn't produced any evidence of actual confusion among consumers. As for what A&F had in mind, it's noted that an intent to parody doesn't equal an intent to confuse the public.





The Florida court also determines that A&F had a fair use right to make fun of Sorrentino in a press release. In fact, this press release is determined not to be an advertisement.

"A&F used only so much of the plaintiff's name as was reasonably necessary to respond to his wearing A&F's brand on The Jersey Shore, and did not do anything that would suggest Sorrentino's sponsorship or endorsement," writes Judge O'Sullivan.

"A&F's press release expressly disassociated Sorrentino from A&F, and the plaintiffs have conceded that no third party has expressed any confusion that the press release rejecting Sorrentino's image somehow suggested sponsorship or endorsement by Sorrentino."





So much for reverse psychology in marketing. In analyzing Sorrentino's publicity rights claim, the judge won't even entertain the "hearsay" of news articles and Facebook comments that speculated the press release was a publicity stunt. And in looking at Sorrentino's false advertising claim, the judge says there isn't anything false about it.

Yes, Sorrentino could have accepted $10,000. As the judge notes, "A&F's offer of money for Sorrentino not to wear its brand is a statement of fact, but is undisputedly true."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr...huation-579759