A customer complained to me yesterday that the cover of Maxim magazine was pornographic and that we should not have it on open display. He held his young son, probably around 8 years old, so he could not see the cover as he shared his feelings.
This is an example of there our magazine fixtures work against us. In old wooden magazine fixtures two thirds of the cover would have been, well, covered. Certainly the bit of the cover shot which offended my customer the most would have been out of sight.
I understand the concern expressed to me. However, newsagencies are public spaces offering access to a diverse range of material. We follow the law in terms of what we display. I am not about to go beyond the law and unreasonably censor placement.
I;d be interested in what others here think – does the cover of Maxim go too far?
you can see the same amount of body on any womens magazine front cover eg womens day new idea , most weeks they are flashing something (except this week none have any bikini wearing models on the front page) it is up to the person on how they take it but obviuosly this bloke had porn on his mind and was just in denile .
perhaps better placement of the barcode sticker would have been enough?
Shaun I have never seen a cover like this on Woman’s Day or New Idea.
yeah i know that but the same bits are coverd up , what can you see that you cannoot see on the front cover of any of the weeklys . it is only the imagination that we have that makes this look pornagraphic . Take porn out of the equation and some would say it is art maybe .
It is nothing for a front page of womens day etc to show off a body wearing a g-string and having a big story on being over weight or celulite etc
Apparently they consult Donald Rumsfield on the Marketing of Shock & Awe, that is why I believe the cover is well uncovered. I had no choice but to put it with the Tattoo Mags section.
I am personally not a fan and would never display a cover like this at the front of the store but other than put it with the other mens mags what else can you do. It is no different to Zoo FHM or the womens fitness mags that have ladies in bikinis.
What does it say about us blokes that it takes a cover like that to make us look at a mag?
Seriously, while I respect your customers values he would never be able to take his child to the beach, the local swimming pool or any number of other places where this much flesh is displayed. While provocative it is not a pornographic image and some customers are a little precious at times. We even once had a customer go to the trouble to complain the they don’t like a song on the instore radio. Some people think their values and taste are the last word.
might be an idea to check out last weeks womans day or new idea..not sure which one..to see a photo of Ajay Rochester from Biggest Loser looking as though she is photographed in much the same way!!
I have a bit of an issue with it in so far as that a cover like that seems to spur people to open the mag up to look a the rest of the photos and then put it back. Other than that there is far worse out there for an 8 year old to see on TV or the Net. You could also go into Sanity or JB HiFi etc and some of the cd covers are as revealing if not worse.
Should it be covered up? I’m not sure but I think perhaps we could be a bit smarter on locating it so that the person who wants to find it will do so rather than having customers picking it up to check out if there are any tastier pictures inside it particularly from those that would not normally look at or buy this title.Perhaps look at it another way. Would you display a magazine that had some guy on it in a similar pose with his hand the only thing covering his tackle? If the answer is no then why should we tolerate it for a woman?
Every one should dig out there returns and have a look at the cover of new idea dated 26th sep have a look at AJAYS picture . no one has a problem with that pic do they …. compare that with the one on the front of maxim and there is no difference . The only difference is your customers imagination he actually liked it , it caught his eye and he felt guilty about it
We positioned this mag without a full face (just masthead) displayed. I understand that people take offence to images like this and we should respect their viewpoint. I have placed this magazine with Zoo and the like to give people the opportunity to avoid this section.
This cover is not much different from many, many other covers on the shelves today (men’s, women’s and other categories included). I do think that calling it pornographic is a little bit of an over-reaction by the customer, but I guess it’s each to their own. You are never going to please all of the people all of the time, but it’s legal and it’s each person’s own choice whether or not they look at it.
Mark, I am in Boston at the moment and to tell you truthfully, he needs to get a life. The diverse range of magazines is amazing. Australia is way over regulated in every way. People, get out and see the world and stop worrying about pety things.
Warrick- in Boston USA
I don’t have a problem with it. Like others have said its no worse than you see elsewhere. I think this is an attempt on the behalf of the magazine to get noticed. So far we’ve only sold one copy from the last three issues. If this issue doesn’t work, we’ll be seriously considering whether it will work at all in our newsagency.
Vicki , it is not working for my store either but nor does fhm
Sold all my 5 copies because a local lass is in it! Was it the dad offended or the boy? As a parent, if it was the boy, it was fantastic learning oppourtunity for a father and son talk later in private.
I recall my then 11 yr old dau being totally grossed out by the covers of Muscle Mag and Ironman at one time !! We had a great talk about boys and their hormiones lol
oops – hormones !
I have a stock answer for customers who are offended by the depicting of sex in a magazine.
“Don’t you think sex is far more natural than the violence depicted in the “games” mags that most kids buy today. I would far rather my child had sex on his/her mind than gratuitous violence”
THIS USUALLY SHUTS THEM UP.(PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY ARE EMBARRASSED ABOUT AN OLD LADY TALKING ABOUT SEX)
June i like it .
Another example of how we let the minority turn us into a nanna state. If you do not like your kids looking at nudey girls them tell them not to or control them and take them away from the area. I’m positive that he has seen worse in the school yard no matter what his age is.
You’re no old lady June. 🙂
I rather like the font in the masthead.
Is there a problem somewhere else ?
nothing wrong or erotic. it is just like art. only those dirty minded think it is erotic.
i have a lot of complaints from a father of a catholic church. i just say yeah yeah. i wonder how saint is that father from the church- especially a catholic church.
Eric – what exactly do you mean by that last comment?
lance @ 22 your spot on, its the font that they are talking about.
Warrick @ 13 have a good time in boston. but is it really that goood you need to mention it twice?
june4 @ 18, i agree, we dont hear people complain about violence, and we see more of that without any classification every day.
shaun @ 26 i was offended by the pic of ajay on the NI last week, but im not offended by this maxim cover
if it was a male on the cover, it wouldn’t be an issue.
some people will get upset by ANY kind of cover !
http://www.watoday.com.au/lifestyle/chick-in-the-centrefold-uncovers-fowl-hypocrisy-20111003-1l5c8.html