"Hot Topic" (store) religious discrimination
Frenchy
July 21, 2003
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Dagonet Dewr
Managing Editor, newWitch Magazine
317.916.9115
m_ed...@newwitch.com
"HOT TOPIC" STORES ADMIT TO RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION IN COMPANY
POLICY
In an email sent July 15, 2003, to newWitch Editor-In-Chief Anne
Newkirk Niven, California-based apparel and accessory retail chain
Hot Topic (http://www.hottopic.com) admitted a company policy of
religious discrimination in merchandise selection for their
stores.According to Papergoods Buyer Marissa Mitchell, "[newWitch]
sounds great, and potentially would have been a good fit for our
stores a few years back when we used to carry Wicca merchandise.
Unfortunately, about 4 years ago we ran into some complicated issues
and as a company, we had to make some difficult decisions. One of
those decisions included not going forward with merchandise that
reads the word `witch' on it." In a phone conversation with Niven,
Ms. Mitchell admitted that some of these `complicated issues'
involved pressure from the Religious Right to Hot Topic's management
to ban all Wicca and witch-related merchandise from its stores --
despite the fact that there is a considerable demographic overlap
between Hot Topic's customer base (goth and other alternative
lifestyles) and Paganism. It appears that Hot Topic has chosen to
give in to said pressure rather than insisting on equal religious
rights for all their customers. newWitch Magazine would like to
encourage the Pagan community -- as well as all other persons who
shop at Hot Topic and who believe in religious rights and the
importance of tolerance in America today -- to respond in one or all
of the following ways:
1) Boycott Hot Topic and its affiliated chain, Torrid
(http://www.torrid.com);
2) Write letters to Hot Topic, encouraging them to forgo their
discriminatory policy in favor of protecting the rights of all
Americans to practice whatever religion they consider appropriate,
and to provide Hot Topic with some idea of the number of Pagans and
Pagan-sympathetic persons in Hot Topic's potential customer base;
3) Write emails to Hot Topic, with the same goal in mind.
or
4) Sign our online petition at
http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/hottopicandreligion . This
petition will be sent to Hot Topic's corporate management on October
31, 2003, the Third Annual Out Of The Broom Closet Day.
Do not call Hot Topic! Phone calls, while perhaps more immediately
satisfying, are harder to document and more likely to anger the
customer service people answering the phones -- who are not the
people who made or who enforce this discriminatory practice. Also,
please keep your communications with Hot Topic professional, polite,
and respectful -- we're not going to get anywhere if we're rude or
juvenile.
The boycott will continue until Hot Topic rescinds its company
policy of entrenched discrimination against Wiccan, witch-related,
and other metaphysical merchandise. Hot Topic's mailing address is
as follows:
Corporate Headquarters
Hot Topic Inc.
18305 San Jose Avenue
City of Industry, CA 91748
Email can be reached off their website, http://www.hottopic.com.
For more information, contact Dagonet Dewr, Managing Editor of
newWitch Magazine, at m_ed...@newwitch.com
--
"Anyone sticking tubes up my rectum has to meet a fair number of fairly
strict criteria." - Dr. Michael Harbut, Royal Oak, MI physician, on
colonic cleansing
Find the cure for the common religion! Deify Yourself at
http://www.tftb.com/deify
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Holy Crap! Frenchy's Religion Blog http://frenchytheyanqui.easyjournal.com
Reply to frenchy AT tftb DOT com
RadiantMatrix
in article <%NgSa.87177$sY2....@rwcrnsc51.ops.asp.att.net> :
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
| July 21, 2003
|
| FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
| Dagonet Dewr
| Managing Editor, newWitch Magazine
| 317.916.9115
| m_ed...@newwitch.com
|
|
| "HOT TOPIC" STORES ADMIT TO RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION IN COMPANY
| POLICY
|
| In an email sent July 15, 2003, to newWitch Editor-In-Chief Anne
| Newkirk Niven, California-based apparel and accessory retail chain
| Hot Topic (http://www.hottopic.com) admitted a company policy of
| religious discrimination in merchandise selection for their
| stores.According to Papergoods Buyer Marissa Mitchell, "[newWitch]
| sounds great, and potentially would have been a good fit for our
| stores a few years back when we used to carry Wicca merchandise.
| Unfortunately, about 4 years ago we ran into some complicated issues
| and as a company, we had to make some difficult decisions. One of
| those decisions included not going forward with merchandise that
| reads the word `witch' on it."
I suspect that this is more of a "sane business decision" than a
"discrimination" issue. Most of Hot Topic's business comes from minors --
and parents who are angry because thier daughter purchased a "Witch" shirt
could easily put the store out of business.
Remember, no one has to *win* lawsuits, just file them and it costs the
defendant money.
| In a phone conversation with Niven,
| Ms. Mitchell admitted that some of these `complicated issues'
| involved pressure from the Religious Right to Hot Topic's management
| to ban all Wicca and witch-related merchandise from its stores --
| despite the fact that there is a considerable demographic overlap
| between Hot Topic's customer base (goth and other alternative
| lifestyles) and Paganism. It appears that Hot Topic has chosen to
| give in to said pressure rather than insisting on equal religious
| rights for all their customers.
Sorry, equal religious "rights"? What about the right of Hot Topic to sell
what it wants, and refuse to carry what it wants? Yeah, I think they lack
spine for giving in, but it isn't a question of consumer or citizen rights.
| newWitch Magazine would like to
| encourage the Pagan community -- as well as all other persons who
| shop at Hot Topic and who believe in religious rights and the
| importance of tolerance in America today -- to respond in one or all
| of the following ways:
|
| 1) Boycott Hot Topic and its affiliated chain, Torrid
| (http://www.torrid.com);
This won't work. Boycotts of large chains don't work, especially when thier
core market is kids who often don't understand the issues.
| 2) Write letters to Hot Topic, encouraging them to forgo their
| discriminatory policy in favor of protecting the rights of all
| Americans to practice whatever religion they consider appropriate,
Not being able to buy a "Witch" shirt from *one* retailer does not impinge
on freedom of worship.
| and to provide Hot Topic with some idea of the number of Pagans and
| Pagan-sympathetic persons in Hot Topic's potential customer base;
That is the only sensible thing here. If Hot Topic thinks they can make
more money than they risk losing by carrying pagan-related merchandise, they
will do it.
| 3) Write emails to Hot Topic, with the same goal in mind.
|
| or
|
| 4) Sign our online petition at
| http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/hottopicandreligion . This
| petition will be sent to Hot Topic's corporate management on October
| 31, 2003, the Third Annual Out Of The Broom Closet Day.
|
| Do not call Hot Topic! Phone calls, while perhaps more immediately
| satisfying, are harder to document and more likely to anger the
| customer service people answering the phones -- who are not the
| people who made or who enforce this discriminatory practice. Also,
| please keep your communications with Hot Topic professional, polite,
| and respectful -- we're not going to get anywhere if we're rude or
| juvenile.
|
| The boycott will continue until Hot Topic rescinds its company
| policy of entrenched discrimination against Wiccan, witch-related,
| and other metaphysical merchandise. Hot Topic's mailing address is
| as follows:
It isn't "discrimination". Any time you decide to carry a retail product
line, you weigh your potential gains against potential risks. There are a
*lot* of Christian parents out there who would forbid thier kids to shop at
Hot Topic based on the fact that they sold *one* "Witch" item. However,
pagans are likely to buy other lines that Hot Topic sells even if "Witch"
items aren't carried.
Sounds like good business. On the flip side, if it was spun correctly, I
think the publicity could have been good for thier image, so I still think
they're spineless bastards.
Regardless, I'm still likely to buy my next pair of pipes there, since they
have the best selection.
Cheers,
Radiant
--
Spivak Pronouns for a gender-neutral world:
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spivak_pronoun
Expand your vocabulary -- contraneoantidisestablishmentarianalistically:
"behaving in the manner of a person belonging to a movement opposed to
the new version of the movement opposed to a separation of church and state"
Wendy of NJ
Yah, my husband has trouble booking his band because it's named
"Metalwanna" and bar owners think it's a drug reference.
Although I feel Niven's pain - when someone chooses not to carry my CD
in their store, it's upsetting. I can see both sides of the issue.
My daughter also likes to shop there, and on the rare occasions that
I'll actually *go* to the mall, I will pick up an interesting garment or
2 there (I think that's the store where I got my flaming shirt).
Gale
<snip>
> | In an email sent July 15, 2003, to newWitch Editor-In-Chief Anne
> | Newkirk Niven, California-based apparel and accessory retail chain
> | Hot Topic (http://www.hottopic.com) admitted a company policy of
> | religious discrimination in merchandise selection for their
> | stores.According to Papergoods Buyer Marissa Mitchell, "[newWitch]
> | sounds great, and potentially would have been a good fit for our
> | stores a few years back when we used to carry Wicca merchandise.
> | Unfortunately, about 4 years ago we ran into some complicated issues
> | and as a company, we had to make some difficult decisions. One of
> | those decisions included not going forward with merchandise that
> | reads the word `witch' on it."
>
> I suspect that this is more of a "sane business decision" than a
> "discrimination" issue. Most of Hot Topic's business comes from minors --
> and parents who are angry because thier daughter purchased a "Witch" shirt
> could easily put the store out of business.
For what? The word 'witch' is obscene??? Only adults may use the word
'witch'???!!! Hot Topic, it appears is a chain -- therefore a big enough
concern to be able to hire lawyers and to fight frivolous lawsuits.
>
> Remember, no one has to *win* lawsuits, just file them and it costs the
> defendant money.
Therefore you are willing to excuse this sizable capitalist concern from
all concerns other than "making more money." Well, they can make their
money from someone other than me. I can, following exactly the same
rationale, keep my business elsewhere -- "If you are not my friend, then
you do not deserve my business." I am not paying my money to support
discrimination against persons and organizations that use the word
'witch,' even if they do believe it is in their interests to cow-tow to
the religious right.
--
Blessed Be,
Gale
We stand outside the wall of Eden
And hear the trees talking together within,
And their talk is sweet in our ears. -- W.B. Yeats
original poetry, fiction at http://www.capjewels.com
modstaff alt.religion.wicca.moderated: http://arwm.net
NickKnight
that time I could count on zero fingers the number of
pagans who came forward to support Hot Topic.
Not one person voiced any support for Hot Topic.
IMHO thousands of Pagans should have come forward
to buy stuff from Hot Topic and show their support.
--------------------------------------------
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Baird Stafford
> On 19 Jul 2003 19:20:01 GMT, Frenchy wrote,
> in article <%NgSa.87177$sY2....@rwcrnsc51.ops.asp.att.net> :
<snip>
> | 1) Boycott Hot Topic and its affiliated chain, Torrid
> | (http://www.torrid.com);
> This won't work. Boycotts of large chains don't work, especially when thier
> core market is kids who often don't understand the issues.
Boycotts of large chains *do* work - IF one can get the general public
to join the action, or IF the group doing the boycotting is perceived as
having enough money to make a difference - and spending it with the
chain, of course.
Usually, a combination of the two is required.
Blessed be,
Baird
who has participated in boycotts by the gay community that have had the
desired effects....
Jackdaw
"Gale" <gal...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:3F1AB252...@bellsouth.net...
> RadiantMatrix wrote:
> <snip>
SNIP
> > I suspect that this is more of a "sane business decision" than a
> > "discrimination" issue. Most of Hot Topic's business comes from
minors --
> > and parents who are angry because thier daughter purchased a "Witch"
shirt
> > could easily put the store out of business.
>
> For what? The word 'witch' is obscene??? Only adults may use the word
> 'witch'???!!! Hot Topic, it appears is a chain -- therefore a big enough
> concern to be able to hire lawyers and to fight frivolous lawsuits.
>
> >
> > Remember, no one has to *win* lawsuits, just file them and it costs the
> > defendant money.
>
> Therefore you are willing to excuse this sizable capitalist concern from
> all concerns other than "making more money." Well, they can make their
> money from someone other than me. I can, following exactly the same
> rationale, keep my business elsewhere -- "If you are not my friend, then
> you do not deserve my business." I am not paying my money to support
> discrimination against persons and organizations that use the word
> 'witch,' even if they do believe it is in their interests to cow-tow to
> the religious right.
>
> --
> Blessed Be,
> Gale
I believe that if more people "voted with their feet" it would hurt them
where it hurts most.
Profit!
An tell them why you and your friends are doing it!
--
Jackdaw ( UK )
collector of facts, trivia and bright twinkly things!
RadiantMatrix
in article <3F1AB252...@bellsouth.net> :
| RadiantMatrix wrote:
| <snip>
| > | In an email sent July 15, 2003, to newWitch Editor-In-Chief Anne
| > | Newkirk Niven, California-based apparel and accessory retail chain
| > | Hot Topic (http://www.hottopic.com) admitted a company policy of
| > | religious discrimination in merchandise selection for their
| > | stores.According to Papergoods Buyer Marissa Mitchell, "[newWitch]
| > | sounds great, and potentially would have been a good fit for our
| > | stores a few years back when we used to carry Wicca merchandise.
| > | Unfortunately, about 4 years ago we ran into some complicated issues
| > | and as a company, we had to make some difficult decisions. One of
| > | those decisions included not going forward with merchandise that
| > | reads the word `witch' on it."
| >
| > I suspect that this is more of a "sane business decision" than a
| > "discrimination" issue. Most of Hot Topic's business comes from minors --
| > and parents who are angry because thier daughter purchased a "Witch" shirt
| > could easily put the store out of business.
|
| For what? The word 'witch' is obscene??? Only adults may use the word
| 'witch'???!!! Hot Topic, it appears is a chain -- therefore a big enough
| concern to be able to hire lawyers and to fight frivolous lawsuits.
No, but most Christian parents would have an issue with thier son or
daughter buying/wearing a shirt that said "Witch". And yes, they have money
to throw at stupid lawsuits, but would that cost more than the money they
would make selling the shirts?
I don't know the answer, but I guarantee they considered it and decided that
it was a losing proposition.
| >
| > Remember, no one has to *win* lawsuits, just file them and it costs the
| > defendant money.
|
| Therefore you are willing to excuse this sizable capitalist concern from
| all concerns other than "making more money."
Um, yes. As you say they are a "capitalist concern" -- therefore making
decisions that cause them to lose money is a bad thing, while decisions that
make more money are good things. We would hope those decisions are balanced
by ethics, but they have done nothing unethical in choosing not to carry a
product line.
| Well, they can make their
| money from someone other than me. I can, following exactly the same
| rationale, keep my business elsewhere -- "If you are not my friend, then
| you do not deserve my business."
Good for you. Voting with your wallet is how capitalism is supposed to
work. If Hot Topic percieves that they will make more money by carrying
products that people like us want then they'll waste on bad publicity and
stupid lawsuits, they might carry those lines again.
| I am not paying my money to support
| discrimination against persons and organizations that use the word
| 'witch,' even if they do believe it is in their interests to cow-tow to
| the religious right.
It isn't discrimintation against persons and organizations who use the word
'witch'. It is a choice not to promote said persons and organizations.
There is a *huge* difference.
Again, I think they are being stupid and frightened. But I hardly think
they're evil because they are cowards.
Brock Ulfsen
It seems to me that the simplest way to address the issue in
an activist way would be to regularly scout your local
outlets of this chain for *any* hint of Christian
iconography on clothing, in jewelery design, etc.
Then you just do exactly what the fundamentalists do, you
complain... Get your friends to join in... Maybe co-ordinate
a national campaign... When the company caves in, as they
will, almost certainly, feel pleased. Do it several times.
Then publicise it. Make the company look like fools. Make an
example of them, so that other companies learn not to give
in to tiny but vocal minorities.
....Brock.
Bol
chain store who sells comparable merchandise?
Bol
"Bol" <catchme...@nunyabiznatch.org> wrote in message
news:BBrVa.7742$uu5.1133@sccrnsc04...
Dale
I'm sorry if you thought that someone should just jump to your question
immediately. Maybe the person who could answer your question just isn't
reading at the moment or that, maybe, some folk don't know the answer
either. This is, after all, a newsgroup and not the font of all
knowledge.
Newsgroups don't always give instant answers because those who use this
sort of newsgroup have a real life that often takes priority (that
includes the moderators). What also doesn't help is that this is an
international newsgroup and your e-mail address doesn't really indicate
what country you live in. Your e-mail address doesn't appear in Google
except for your initial post - so if you are a new user, it may be
worthwhile looking up the netiquette for newsgroups.
HTH
--
Dale - Liverpool, England ICQ#: 840783 (Manawydan)
Everyone's entitled to my opinion.
Bol
post again. Sorry it offended your sensibilites so much.
"Dale" <ab...@webeye.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:s1PoREPIGvK$Ew...@blueyonder.co.uk...
Tiliqua
I respond to Bol who opined that:
>whoh there, try some decaf man. I waited a few days and just figured i'd
>post again. Sorry it offended your sensibilites so much.
>
>
I noted no signs of offended sensibilities.
Dale's post was explanatory and concentrated on passing on information
you may not have had, but needed to know.
I read the tone as helpful rather than angry.
May the Lord and The Lady prosper your ventures
SPAMTRAP: There is a spamtrap in this address. To email me, let the amphibian out of the water.
Bol
I just thought I'd ask again after a few days.
"Tiliqua" <full...@bigFROGpond.com.au> wrote in message
news:43goiv87e7tanm06v...@4ax.com...
Dale
>Maybe it's just me then... Like I said, I don't want to step on any toes.
>I just thought I'd ask again after a few days.
You left it just over 48 hours - not really a long time on Usenet - and
seemed like quite a flippant remark, maybe reworded or even an emoticon
would have helped.
As I said, there can be quite a number of reasons for a lack of a reply
and you've still not helped your original question as you've still not
indicated where you are, so how can someone advise?
Oh, and I don't drink coffee so decaf would be useless ;)