It would seem that Nicole Polizzi (aka "Snooki”) of Jersey Shore fame has fashion designers fighting for her attention, sending her an array of expensive handbags. Here’s the catch – they aren’t sending her their own handbags, instead they are bombarding her with their competitor’s designs!For anyone who has been living under a rock, Jersey Shore is the most recent MTV hit reality show, featuring a cast of self-proclaimed "guidos and guidettes” (originally a derogatory term used to refer to people of Italian heritage), who take over the Jersey Shore region of the United States each year for a summer full of "fist-pumping” (an interesting dance move originated by the cast), fake-baking and drunken bar fights. The show can be best described by analogy: it’s like a train wreck – a colossal mess but you just can’t stop watching! Until now, one of the show’s stars, Snooki, was snapped by celebrity gossip sites toting a bag by American designer, Coach, all over town. Recently, however, photos of the pint-sized partier carrying a line of Gucci purses have surfaced online. Apparently, in an effort to disassociate themselves from the show, Coach gifted Snooki a bag by competing label, Gucci. This began a battle among designers to keep their products away from the Jersey Shore cast. Normally, designers fight to have their products on the arms of celebrities, but it would seem that the cast of Jersey Shore has inspired a new trend in the fashion world referred to as "reverse branding.” In an article on the New York Observer website, Simon Doonan, creative director of Barney’s New York, was quoted exclaiming, "nobody in fashion wants to co-brand with Snooki!” Apparently, having your product connected to Jersey Shore instantly devalues it by removing its prestige.Rather than be embarrassed by the whole facade, Snooki couldn’t be happier with her new designer digs and has taken to her Twitter account to thank the label for the "upgrade.” We can’t wait for the day that Snooki decides to buy her own designer accessories, sending the fashion world and online gossip sites into a frenzy. Doonan agrees reporting, "Soon she will be able buy her own Birkin, thereby precipitating a mass Jonestown suicide over at Maison Hermes.”
