Fashion designers and manufacturers often cite “word-of-mouth” as the best kind of advertising, but officials at Liz Claiborne are trying to stamp out word-of-mouth conversation these days.
The whispered topic: that the company gives money to a satanic cult.
“Have you heard the rumor?” asked an official of a major retail company where several consumers have returned Claiborne clothes during the past year. “They say they heard Liz Claiborne was on the Oprah Winfrey show and she said some of the company profits go to a satanic cult,” said the official, who asked not to be identified.
Like the children’s game “telephone” gone insidiously awry, the rumor has surfaced in different parts of the country during the last year.
“There is no truth to it,” said Sarah Patterson, public-relations manager for Claiborne. In fact, according to Patterson and Colleen Raleigh, publicist for the 4-year-old syndicated Winfrey show, Claiborne never has appeared on the show.
Patterson said the company’s sales of more $1 billion a year have not been affected. Nonetheless, retailers already nervous about the economy are particularly disturbed by the perniciousness of the rumor about one of the nation’s biggest fashion suppliers.
Another variation, Patterson said, has Claiborne appearing on Phil Donahue’s show. In fact, the designer was last on Donahue in the early 1980s, commentating a fashion show, and that program has not been re-broadcast.
“Liz isn’t even associated with the company anymore,” Patterson said. “She’s retired. … The part of the rumor that we are donating a certain percentage of our profits is not possible. We’re a public company.”
Combating the story with a one-on-one strategy rather than a corporate announcement, Patterson said she personally has tried to answer questions from the press and consumers.
“I will take as much time as it takes to answer questions, explain the facts and try to reassure them,” she said. “Sometimes I talk with five in a day; sometimes none.”
