Millions watched Jersey Shore every week. They weren’t necessarily watching because they aspired to live the same way these characters did. They just found the show funny. The cast (who weren’t actually from the Jersey Shore, and weren't terribly Italian) purposely played into stereotypes, for our entertainment. This earned some criticism, from Italian-American group UNICO, from Chris Christie and from Abercrombie & Fitch.
“We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image,” Abercrombie said. “We have therefore offered a substantial payment to Michael ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino and the producers of MTV's Jersey Shore to have the character wear an alternate brand.”
MTV called this offer of payment “a clever PR stunt.” Well, maybe it was. The clever part was getting the PR while paying a whole lot less than actual paid product placement costs.