Pressure from Parents

Reason number 553 why parents get to push their kids into being olympians:

http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2008/09/05/this-weeks-5-dumbest-stock-moves.aspx

In one of the more unlikely endorsement deals to come out of last month's Olympics, Chico's FAS (NYSE: CHS) has tapped Debbie Phelps as a spokeswoman for the retail chain.

Don't get me wrong. I think Ms. Phelps was one of the more inspiring stories of the Beijing games, as she cheered her son on to gold medal after gold medal in the pool. Once Chico's discovered that she was routinely wearing Chico's outfits in the stands, the allegedly six-figure endorsement deal was a natural. I guess it didn't occur to Chico's that comps at its stores fell 10% last month, even as Ms. Phelps was generating plenty of screen time for its wares.

I also think it's great that the otherwise fickle fashion industry can embrace a plump, older figurehead at a time when too many people are obsessed with youth and body image. However, there's a problem when you back a "real person" who has never been known for fashion sense. Does anyone remember when Penny Marshall and Rosie O'Donnell were doing Kmart ads? Even when you go to the other extreme, like Morgan Fairchild with Old Navy, it doesn't work.

Unless Chico's is conceding everything short of the hipster grandmother demographic, I don't see the upside here. What does the FAS in Chico's FAS stand for, Find Another Spokeswoman?
No offense, Ms. Phelps.