Saturday, January 15, 2011

Be Careful What You Put Your Name On– 'Kardashian Kard' Controversy

The Kardashians have their image and name behind a clothing line boutique, beauty products, a book, a new jewelry line for BeBe and just recently a credit card. Branding themselves with these products has mostly improved their celebrity status. However, if you think celebrity fame and name equal instant success in all endeavors, you’re mistaken. Recently, the Kardashian sisters and their company, Dash Dolls LLC, were hit with a $75 million lawsuit over the termination of their Kardashian Kard, a pre-paid MasterCard held by Revenue Resource Group LLC who reported “being severely financially impacted” over a pulled 2-year contract, says Fresno Bee.

The lawsuit came about when the Attorney General of Connecticut opened an investigation of the Kardashian Kard for claims of possibly illegal and outrageous card fees to its users. The sisters terminated the contract for the use of their name and image on the card after being informed of this.

The Kardashians have a very loyal fan base of mostly young women, who would probably love the idea of having a Kardashian credit card. In fact, Resource Group LLC reported 140,000 hits after the card was launched in November. That said, it was a strong decision by the Kardashian sisters to terminate the card because they sacrificed a possible big business venture for the sake of their name and image.

However, the suit claims the sisters signed the agreement acknowledging the fees on the card. If that is true, it may raise some questions to their credibility as businesswomen. This situation ultimately brings up the ethical question of whether or not you should promote a product or service when you are aware of unfair terms to its consumers.

Despite the controversy, the Kardashians are still a very strong force in entertainment and have experienced no apparent change in their fan base due to this situation. Even if it was bad publicity, the Kardashian sisters and their name remain unaffected for now.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Jessica Lopez.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

wow I read about this on another blog and I refused to believe it was true but that is just not a good look.