Fa'Shae Flip Sweater in Desperate Housewives Finale. By Phil Sweetland Country Music and Radio Contributor, The New York Times
31 Millon Viewers See fa'shae Flip Sweater in Deperate Housewives, Success Story for Fa'shae's Augustavia Turner and Her PR. Consultant, Deborah Danker - By Phil Sweetland Country music and Radio contributor, The New York Times
(PRWEB) June 3, 2005 -- No new show created as much buzz this TV season as
ABC’s Sunday night blockbuster, Desperate Housewives, and when 31 million
viewers tuned into the season finale May 22, they saw the character of Mary
Alice Young proudly wearing a Fa’Shae Flip Sweater.
The sweater can be
seen on the Desperate Housewives Web site, www.desperatehousewives.com, on photos 23-25 of the Gallery
section.
The remarkable story of how Mary Alice (played by Brenda Strong)
came to wear that over-the-shoulder mock sweater is a testament to two
remarkable female entrepreneurs, Fa’Shae’s Chicago-based founder Augustavia
Turner and the company’s Nashville-based PR, marketing, and merchandising
wizard, Deborah Danker of International Sourcing Plus.
“I sent the
sweater into the Wardrobe Department of Desperate Housewives, then I didn’t hear
back from them for awhile,” Danker says in a conversation at her Music Row
office. “When I saw Mary Alice wearing it as she arrived on Wisteria Lane in a
flashback scene, I was screaming!”
At that same instant, 31 million other
viewers around the USA were getting their first look at the fabulous Fa’Shae
Flip Sweater. The showbiz trade paper Variety reported that this cliffhanger
season finale “racked up the best young-adult rating for a drama episode on any
network in three years and the best rating for an ABC-TV hour show in more than
10 years.”
Phew. Talk about instant credibility for a surprise product
placement, and millions of dollars worth of free advertising. It’s a remarkable
success story for two women who have overachieved their whole
lives.
Turner went to Chicago’s Martin Luther King High School, then
earned her Bachelor’s in accounting at Roosevelt University and a Master’s in
finance at Lewis University. After spending 15 very successful years in the
corporate world as an accountant, Augustavia says in a phone conversation from
Chicago, “I love crunching numbers, but the one thing I was missing was the
communication between people and the connection between fashion and
business.”
Style, fashion, and glamour have always been components in her
life. “This business came to me because I love fashion, from the perfect outfit
all the way to the perfect accessories,” Augustavia says. “I love looking
nice.”
The idea for the Flip Sweater came because she loved wearing the
garment tied around her neck, “but the problem was the bulking. I decided to
find a way to make the sweater lie better,” she says.
Augustavia needed
someone to publicize and promote her work, so she did a great deal of research
and found Deborah Danker, who had the perfect expertise both in fashion and PR
that Turner sought. Deborah’s remarkable gift of vision and persistence led to
the crucial product placement for the Fa’Shae Flip Sweater on Desperate
Housewives.
“It’s a hot item now,” Augustavia says. “Any time you see
something on TV, it’s almost setting a trend,” especially on a program that 31
million Americans – primarily women – watched.
Meanwhile, Turner and
Danker are working on making Fa’Shae a national and global brand. Their success
on Desperate Housewives might attract the attention of other TV programs that
deal with women’s empowerment – notably The Opray Winfrey Show, which originates
in Augustavia’s hometown of Chicago.
Contact: Deborah Danker, e-mail
protected from spam bots, 615 467 6208
www.InternationalSourcingPlus, www.FaShae.com
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb246335.htm