Store to pay The Situation to stop wearing its clothes

Abercrombie & Fitch has announced it would like to offer a "substantial payment" to American reality TV 'star' Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino to stop wearing its aspirational clothes.

The Situation (above, centre) is famous as a member of the cast of Jersey Shore, a reality TV show that follows the - frequently drunken - antics of a group of Italian-Americans in a shared house in New Jersey.

Now Abercrombie & Fitch has said in a statement issued to CNN: "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.

"We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast, and are urgently waiting a response."

Jersey Shore has been a great success for MTV, but has attracted criticism from Italian Americans, with one organisation calling it "negative, offensive and just plain false". Dell and American Family Insurance asked for their ads to be removed from the show shortly after it was first aired.

The phenomenon of brands distancing themselves from people or groups they consider beneath them is well-known to marketers.

In 2006, Cristal was the subject of a boycott by rapper Jay-Z after Louis Roederer's managing director appeared in an interview to be less than enthusiastic about the champagne's association with the hip-hop lifestyle.

However, Abercrombie & Fitch's decision to actually pay off an undesirable celebrity raises the prospect of a new form of extortion in which Z-list celebrities purposefully associate themselves with luxury brands in an effort to trigger a payment. ·