British newspapers say that the U.K.-based apparel company French Connection Group may have finally met its match: American family values campaigners.

Some major U.S. department stores have banned the company's new his-and-her fragrances — "FCUK Her" and "FCUK Him'' — following a wave of protests.

The American Family Association, which has 1.8 million activists on its e-mail list, in a matter of days they generated more than 120,000 e-mails asking stores to remove the FCUK brand.Other U.S. religious and conservative groups also have launched campaigns to protest the brand.

French Connection took off in 1997, when savvy advertising executives discovered that the initials for French Connection and United Kingdom created a slightly mixed-up word that outraged some customers

Source:Toronto Star Oct. 23, 2003. (pg C9) SHELLEY EMLING, COX NEWS SERVICE