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September 30, 2008, 03:17 PM ET
Facebook Search for Franklin & Marshall Leads to ... Italy?
An article about the College of New Jersey’s Facebook page reminded me that I had been meaning to see whether my alma mater — Franklin and Marshall College — has a page on Facebook. A quick Facebook search turned up a number of F&M pages, but the one at the top of the list has nothing to do with the college: It’s a page for an Italian clothing line that inexplicably picked up the college’s name back in 1999.
The Facebook page explains that two guys from Verona, Andrea Pensiero and Giuseppe Albarelli, decided to base their line of clothes on a “marketing mix based on true vintage, college, and American culture with references to the 1950’s and 1970’s.”
As someone who was an F&M student in the 70s, I can attest that the typefaces and logos the company has chosen for its products are perfect for the period. I guess that’s why its Facebook page claims that the company is “recognized as a leader in the vintage-college clothing sector.” A trademark tussle with the college got settled amicably some years back, with the college getting a cut of profits on clothing sold in the U.S.
The company’s Web site also includes plenty of information about the college, a link to the college’s Web site, and even grainy black-and-white yearbook photos of a lot of people I recognize. But there’s are also up-to-date pictures of a Verona rugby team sponsored by the company — players are wearing the Franklin & Marshall name — and a link to an online radio station that features trendy European musicians and that is clearly not WFNM, the college’s station. It’s as though Facebook led me to an alternate universe in which the college I attended had transferred itself to Europe to become thinner, hipper, and more beautiful. It’s certainly not bad publicity — just unusual. —Lawrence Biemiller
Categories: Social-Networking
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