Fama and French are still industry leaders, and they use the three factor model as the foundation of all of their portfolio management at Dimensional Fund Advisors, hands down the most successful mutual fund in existence. http://us.dimensional.com/process/multifactor.aspx
They continue to out-perform active fund managers, and they power a boat load of the investments for many American Corporations. And those American Corporations love to watch their money grow.
What makes you think these models don't still power successful financial products today?