High end shoe retailer Johnston & Murphy has made the decision to no longer display in-store ads featuring new spokeman X-Files star David Duchovny, 48. Duchovny announced last week that he was suffering from a sex addiction and was currently in rehab for treatment. The actor has two children and has been married for 11 years to actress Téa Leoni. According to the NY Post, the NY store on Madison Ave. is no longer displaying the Duchovny ads, with a store employee saying that “We got the call from corporate this morning to take him down.”
Duchovny’s campaign was a new one for the retailer, and their press releases ahead of the August launch touted the actor’s image and even tied him to the brand, using the tagline, Johnston, Murphy & Duchovny:
The X-Files: I Want to Believe opened in an underwhelming fourth place among the top ten movies this past weekend, but actor David Duchovny is No. 1 at men’s sportswear, footwear and accessories company Johnston & Murphy, where he will star in a national campaign breaking in August.
The effort, via Toth Brand Imaging, Cambridge, Mass., is anchored by a print campaign that will launch in September issues of such publications as Esquire, Forbes, Fortune and Men’s Health. Support includes Internet and POP. Spend for the campaign was not disclosed.
The ads show Duchovny, with a pensive look on his face, wearing Johnston & Murphy sportswear and shoes and, in some creative, accompanied by accessories such as a briefcase and other leather goods. Text reads: “Johnston, Murphy & Duchovny.”
The effort is part of the company’s recent strategy to rejuvenate the 157-year-old brand “by portraying a fresher, more dynamic and relevant image in the marketplace, as well as promote emerging categories such as luggage, small leather goods and outerwear.” Former ads have featured musician Ziggy Marley, BMX rider Mat Hoffman and football star Tiki Barber.
“We’re thrilled to have David Duchovny as part of our ad campaign,” Jason Dasal, vp-marketing at Johnston & Murphy, Nashville, Tenn., said in a statement. “David embodies success and confidence, along with a great sense of style, communicating the ideal image for the Johnston & Murphy brand.”
[From Brandweek]
I wonder if Duchovny’s contract had any stipulations about his personal life. You can see why the brand wouldn’t want to be associated with him after this, and I bet the person who came up with that pitch is kicking themselves for tying it so closely to Duchovny’s character. At least he has his legs crossed in the ads, although he looks kind of skeevy to me now considering what I know about him.
Maybe they should try and spin it eg. same pic but change the copy –
Johnston & Murphy: The Addiction that Makes Sense.
OR
Johnston & Murphy: The Superior Addiction.
OR
Johnston & Murphy: The Stylish Addiction.
Ok, I’m done now.
kate moss got loads of contracts after her public cocain-fest and he gets “fired” for seeking help and being honest about it. way to go.
they’ve just noticed his face, huh?
some guys can have that craggy rumpled look and look sexy with it.
not this one
:LOL: geronimo
Oh what nonsense. As if buying the same pair of shoes as DD is going to turn you into him. I’d say for most men, apart from the extremely religious, they don’t care whose puss is on the advert – all they care about is a reasonably stylish, comfortable pair of clod-hoppers that don’t cost the earth.
@Geronimo: Johnson & Murphy: The Shoes You’ll Want to Be Wearing When You’re Cheating On Your Wife With Lots of Nameless Skanks?
Johnson & Murphy: The Shoes For ZOMG HOMEWRECKERS
I always sensed this dude had a large closet full of stuff just waiting to spill out.
his ads are for mature audience, no reason to pull ads
The ads are terrible, he looks unattractive in them – and he’s not an unattractive man. It’s stupid to pull the ads because he’s admitted to a problem. Next, the company will be blaming him for their low production in sales.
Make the man look like the sexy man he is and these ads would tell a different story. Seriously, who cares about his addiction unless you’re his wife and kids? Or the mom and dad I guess… but still.
The truth is, that in Hollywood particularly, there are “fashionable” addictions: drugs and alcohol. Being addited to drugs and booze is accepted as being a bi-product of being rich and famous, and if the celeb spends 30 days at rehab, all if forgiven.
First of all, I think ‘sex addiction’ is a misnomer. It is not a physical/chemical addiction; it is a behavior disorder.
People tend to find psychological disorders more difficult to accept or forgive.
And, to use Celebitchy’s wonderful word, this particular disorder comes across as “skeevy”. It is neither fashionable nor understandable to the general public.
Basically, it makes you say “ewww” or snicker. Which might not be fair, but I can understand the company not wanting Duchovney in their ads.
And RAN; you said he looked bad in the ads–I was thinking that, considering how good he looked on X-Files, in recent years, to me, he ALWAYS looks terrible; long greasy hair, unshaven, shlumpy. What happened? Maybe he needs a shower addiction as well? LOL (okay, that was mean…sorry).
I agree with Anni. Cocaine Kate gets tons of work, Paris Hilton goes from No one to A Over exposed whore bag and Kim Kardashian suffered the same fate after sex tapes but someone whos seeking help and being responsible about their problems gets fired?
Bish please.
Having said that – I think David is a hot sexy beast even at his age. I’ll be his enabler!
My my, he has big feet. Big feet in fugly shoes. I feel bad for his wife. NO telling what awful diseases he might have exposed her to. I hope she dumps his ass. As for the company, bet they sell more shoes than ever over this.
AGREE CZARINA….. David has looked rough in the past few months. I don’t think he has washed or combed his hair in days. Maybe he does not care anymore. BUT, the media DID give Kate Moss a second chance. It is just that addiction that has some of us shivering in our timbers. I believe it covers a whole broad territory, when you say ” sex addiction”, and people start to think, ” children “? I don’t know, but that is what I have read… People’s minds run wild, and that is what advertisers do NOT want associated with their merchandise. Am I wrong here guys??
That’s too bad, they should’ve kept him up. He’s hot, looks good in the clothes, he’s getting help…what’s the big deal?
Maybe he can be the spokesperson for Trojan.
Victoria: I think that is a very good point. When I looked up sex addiction on the Internet after reading about DD going to rehab, there was a list of behaviors associated with it. Among them cheating, use of porn, voyerism, etc. The end of the list was molestation and/or rape.
The article I read made it clear that sex addiction is NOT synonimous with sexual deviency and that the extremes of behavior (molestation and rape) were confined to a limited number of people…but if it was even listed in the article I read, I can see where people would get freaked.
(although I don’t think for a second DD is guilty of anything criminal or deviant…I think his wife would have left long ago were that the case.)
Apparently, his friends are saying it’s an Internet porn addiction and that he wasn’t having affairs. Granted, a copious amount of porn might have felt like cheating to Tea, but maybe he didn’t expose her to a slew of STDs after all…
Also, I think it’s a bit premature to pull his ads. He didn’t confess to pedophilia, after all, and Hollywood sure loves their drug addicts. LEAVE MULDER ALOOOONE!! 😆
I would guess that Johnston & Murphy will probably suffer more for making a big deal out of this then David will for being honest. The “truth is out there” and it’s that the x-files movie sucked and californication is semi- autobiographical! who knew.
aww, poor david. he’s getting a lot of slack at a time he should be getting a lot of support. addictions are all terrible, and i would argue that the worst addictions are not chemical related, but are the ones dealing with the things most people can handle normally (like gambling, shopping, eating, sex). those are less understood, but perhaps more painful. the details are none of our buisness. but i’m not gonna lie, with the timing of gillian anderson’s pregnancy i am overwhelmed with curiosity about their relationship (in the past… and apparently in the present). i always thought that there was something bw those two. if they had had affairs during their series i wouldn’t be surprised. if they had an affair during their reunion for the x files sequel i wouldnt be surprised. but if they had children together and actually had/have deep loving feelings for each other that they and fox have covered up for all of these years… then that’s drama for you. a conspiracy, one might say. 😉