Too Sexy After Bringing Sexy Back?

The muscle-bound band with shaved heads known as Right Said Fred didn't know it at the time that they would become a 1990's one-hit wonder with the song, "I'm Too Sexy…"

They probably didn't realize that they would start the often-repeated pop culture phrase "I'm too sexy for... (insert this or that here)" that lasted for what seemed to be years afterward either. The royalties on all of the T-shirts, bumper stickers, and various advertisement plugs that followed must have been phenomenal. (I hope they invested it wisely.)

What I'm sure they didn't foresee was that the CEO of Limited Brands, which owns the lingerie chain known as Victoria's Secret, would be using their catchy phase to explain why profits were down recently for the company… They were -- well -- too sexy!

Being too sexy is one excuse I've never heard from a CEO to explain a downslide in profits. After all, the most common excuses in annual reports, company press releases, and shareholder meetings are a down economy or recession. Major storms that have hit the nation, such as Hurricane Katrina, have been used. Perhaps an Asian economic crisis or a perceived nuclear threat by a developing county could be the reason. Oil going over $100 a barrel seems like a significant issue for certain industries. A few years ago, Krispy Kreme donuts even used the popular Dr. Atkins' low-carb diet phenomenon to explain why their sugary confections weren't selling. Being too sexy is a new one, but it may actually have more substance than the 1990's pop tune did.

With so much buzz about their company and products, though, what could be amiss? Simply put, being too sexy translated in another way could be: we didn't offer the products, assortment, and prices that our core customers wanted to purchase from us.

The company has become completely infatuated with size zero models (or do they make negative sizes?) strutting down the cat walk each year in an event with a date that is circled in red on the calendars of many men, as not to miss the late night television extravaganza. Their annual fashion shows have become productions on the magnitude of the Super Bowl, commanding personal performances by the hottest singers of the year, such as Justin Timberlake who was there just "Bringing Sexy Back." If you do miss a show, there have been thousands of YouTube videos uploaded to play at your leisure. In fact, play all of the years back-to-back if you have time, as they're available with a few clicks of the mouse.

Missing customer expectations about product offering, assortments, and pricing can be a downfall of many companies, not just Victoria's Secret though. Branding can become a liability instead of an asset. Advertising dollars can be just as well lit on fire.

For example, in advertising, how many times have you watched TV commercials and thought, "What was that advertising?" Or, have you ever laughed at a commercial so hard and even told your friends about seeing this really entertaining ad, but get asked, "What was it for?" And you respond: I really don't remember; I'm not sure it even said.

One of the most far-out, off-the-mark commercials I've seen lately looks like a Star Wars scene, but in place of a spaceship it shows a pregnancy test. You've probably seen this TV ad recently, right? It talks about all the specifications like it's a fine-tuned machine or race car. It even makes the comment at the end, which is something to the effect of, "It's the most sophisticated piece of plastic you'll ever pee on." If that wasn't enough, there's even a stream of liquid that falls on the test, which is suspended in the middle of the screen while this is being said by the announcer.
Certainly, the problem with this one is not being too sexy.

The list of these types of commercials could go on forever, but let's go back to "being too sexy" with some final thoughts though. It's not every day that there's a new excuse in the CEO playbook, especially one on the scale of being too sexy.

Perhaps, it could be used by common folks too. Next time when you make a costly mistake at work and you get "call onto the carpet" for it, just say that you think the reason for it was that you're too sexy. You may just get a laugh -- and your pink slip too.

So, on second thought, maybe you shouldn't. After all, you probably don't have the multi-million dollar "golden parachute" payout that most of the CEO's have when they get canned these days … but that's a whole new topic for another post.