Top Stories of 2003: Retailer's Removal of Men's Magazines Hailed by Pro-Family Groups
by Rusty Pugh and Jody Brown
December 23, 2003
(AgapePress) - The jury is still out on Wal-Mart's recent announcement that it is pulling from its shelves three offensive magazines. While the reaction from pro-family groups is generally positive, one activist says the retail giant shouldn't stop there.Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, says it has halted sales of Maxim, Stuff, and FHM, all three men's magazines that "feature a mix of scantily clad starlets and bawdy humor," according to The New York Times. The company says the decision came after listening to their customers and associates. Maxim has been sold in Wal-Mart for the last three years, while FHM was added recently.
Several groups concerned about the decline in morality and decency in the country are applauding Wal-Mart's move. One Southern Baptist leader says the decision will have a "tremendously positive impact" on the retail community.
"When Wal-Mart catches a cold, the retail world sneezes," says Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "In making this courageous and constructive decision, Wal-Mart has reconfirmed that it understands ... that no corporation that serves the public can be all things to all people."
"Wal-Mart has remained true to the founding values of [Wal-Mart founder] Sam Walton," Land says.
Rick Schatz | |
An Ohio-based pro-family group agrees with Land, saying Wal-Mart has made a "wise and thoughtful" choice, describing the magazines that were removed as "just a step away from pornography.""This decision clearly underscores the fact that the majority of Americans are fed up with the sexualized messages advocated by these publications," says Rick Schatz of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families.
"It is also important to remember that [Wal-Mart] did not reach this decision simply because a group of people sat around the table and decided these magazines were offensive," Schatz adds. "As the world's largest magazine retailer, they obviously did their homework to determine if these materials were pleasing to their market or not."
But Randy Sharp with the American Family Association (AFA) says while he is glad Wal-Mart is yanking the magazines, the retail giant should not stop there.
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Randy Sharp |
"We're also hopeful that they will continue to recognize our concern, which we have shared with Wal-Mart, that the ladies' magazines in the check-out lanes ... are extremely offensive and very harmful to parents and children [as they] make their purchases," he says. According to Sharp, that includes such magazines as Cosmopolitan and Glamour."We hope that Wal-Mart will continue to recognize family-friendly policies and place blinders over [such] magazines," Sharp says.
For more than three years, AFA has spearheaded a campaign known as "Glossy Garbage." The goal, according to the campaign's website, is to make grocery and retail store check-out lanes more "child friendly."
