Enraged Vicar pulls down Playboy stationary display
Pastor Dale Morgan
Enraged Vicar pulls down Playboy stationary display*
By Lucy Cockcroft
Last updated: 6:30 AM BST 21/05/2008
An Anglican vicar was so incensed to see Playboy stationary stacked on a
shop shelf next to children’s merchandise that he decided to take direct
action, and pulled down the display.
The Reverend Tim Jones, 40, said the pornography empire deliberately
aims the bright pink pencil cases and note books, branded with the
distinctive bunny logo, at young girls.
So, he decided to take a stand and threw the offending merchandise from
shelves in the York branch of Stationery Box, after getting the full
backing of the store manager.
Rev Jones said: "I told the assistant manager, who was on duty, I was
going to be launching a protest at the shop, and I went over to where
the Playboy material was on the shelf alongside the Winnie The Pooh and
Mickey Mouse items.
"I started tossing it on the floor away from where people were. I also
encouraged customers to sign a petition against the intrusion of
commercial brands such as Playboy into goods and services targeting
children.
"The long-term intention of their strategy is to encourage children to
see the Playboy bunny as a friendly brand appropriate for children,
preparing them for early commercial acceptance of Playboy pornographic
merchandise.
"This constitutes a kind of institutional grooming of children for their
commercial exploitation by the powerful sex industry. It is indirect but
not accidental. It is deliberate, intentional, cynical and wicked and
must be resisted."
Rev Jones, who has a seven-year-old daughter, has persuaded staff at the
Stationery Box branch to remove the entire Playboy range pending a
"merchandising review".
A spokesman for the shop said: "Because we respect the views of the
communities that we trade in, and following Father Jones' visit, we have
removed the product from sale in this store while we review our
merchandising policy."
A spokesman for Playboy said: "We were surprised to discover that
Playboy stationery has been so inappropriately positioned. Playboy's
target audience is 18 to 34-year-olds so we clearly did not authorise or
approve the placement of our product next to such well-known children's
characters. We will be reviewing this situation immediately."