Lads' mags have 6 weeks to "cover up": your reaction, please!

The link is obvious - Lose the Lads' Mags has specified that it's target is high street retailers:

"It?s a national scandal that high-street supermarkets and newsagents still stock lads? mags. It?s time to hold them to account. Over the coming months we?ll be targeting some of Britain?s best known retailers until they lose the lads? mags."

Fantastic idea and it should be rolled out in all stores not just coop?? I don't want to see it and neither do my children!

This thread is discussing the move by the co-op to request that the mags be provided with covers. So they are still available for purchase, just not visible to people who don't want them on show.

What on earth is the problem with that?

Ah, hadn't spotted, you've come on a thread about a campaign to stop children being able to see these magazines to talk about a separate campaign to ban them entirely.

Losing them from children's view is so awful is it?

Lose the Lads mags

"What we?re calling for"

"We?re calling on high-street shops to lose the lads? mags ? or risk possible legal action."

Sounds like a call for a ban to me, with a threat thrown in for good measure...

cloudskitchen Exactly.

manform Well done on completely missing the aims of the campaigns.

So "Lose the Lads Mags" and "No More Page 3" are not campaigns to get these things banned then?

Perhaps what the campaigners would really like are voluntary codes of practice, underpinned by some, er, guidelines?

These middle class campaigners focus their energies quite specifically on the consumption habits of those in the C2DE demographic. That's a class war.

I wonder what people (particularly those men criticising this move) would say if there were equivalent 'soft' gay porn mags available at child eye height in shops.

Would they be so keen to condemn the covers as censorious or say 'I just don't want to see sexual images of men when I go to buy a pint of milk, there's a time and a place for it and it's not the supermarket'...

Just a thought.

I don't really see what the big deal is. They are still available to those that want to buy them and if covered up less offensive to those that find them offensive. Win win all round surely.

No. Its not a class war (are co-op shop workers part of the bourgeoisie?). Its not even a gender war as there are plenty of male parents who don't want their little kids exposed to these images.

It is not a ban.

This isn't censorship - they've not been banned. I think it's heartening to see a company responding to consumer demand for less naked flesh, rather than insisting that marketing always be a race to the bottom. (Pun intended.)

The campaign against Lads' mags, the Sun and page 3 is just another front in the class war against what is perceived as an uncouth underclass.

Whilst I'm sure that lads' mags might be offensive to some, the attempt to ban them represents yet another bourgeois attempt (along with minimum alcohol pricing, the war of pornography and the plain packaging of cigarettes) to demonise those at the bottom of the pile 'for their own good'.

Im not sure what tot hink of it,in theory its good,but wont the fact they are in plain covers make them more interesting in a way?If i was a kid and i asked my mum what was in those magazines in the grey bag and she told me rude magazines,it would almost make them seem more appealing!

I'd like to see all these images banned from decent shops whether on the front cover or not. I saw somebody on TV the other day (a woman!) saying people want them so they should be legal. A poor excuse. People want plenty of things that aren't legal. But it's a start I suppose.

The drive for changes is always going to come from pressure groups - that doesn't mean that a lot of ordinary customers and staff wouldn't wholeheartedly agree.

The resistance to this change appears to be coming from what could be termed anti-feminist groups, and 'interested' parties (the mags themselves). So that's rather a weak argument.

Reading the article in the newspaper, there is reticence on part of some of the supermarkets because the drive is by feminist groups and not the customers - and guidelines are being followed by ensuring that they are suitably displayed (out of reach/eye line of youngsters).

The other side of the debate is that the editors/publishers have toned down and altered the covers.

Is there any way to help persuade the other supermarkets to align themselves with the Co-op?

it's like everything though isn't it - legal, commercial etc. there is the flagship case that everyone awaits the outcome of and all then rests on what happens with that.

fair play to the coop for being the 'one' to do it.

Tesco's response is as expected - not us gov, we aren't putting any money towards this until we are compelled or have our hand forced.

I wonder if the correct interpretation of the Tesco response is 'we want to stay neutral in public for now, but will have no problem whatsoever if these publications become bagged in "pervert pouches".'

And if one supermarket demands it, and other say they don't mind it, then I suspect all copies will be pouched, as the logistics of two parallel supply lines would be too expensive to sustain. So the publishers know this is the battle which, if last, changes the game everywhere. It'll be a case of who blinks first in the period to the ultimatum.

it has also been interesting to see women on screen who don't smile coquetishly, self denigrate or demure to the opinion of a man. the fact that they come across as so serious and 'different' highlights for me just how used we are to women performing femininity in a particular style in the public eye.

i'm obviously all for the lads mag cover up - or happily just burning the lot.

what i've found interesting is that wherever i've seen interviews about it and there has been a woman defending the campaign and a man defending lads mags it has been so BLATANTLY.... well, anyone watching could see what kind of man loves these mags and wants to defend their being there uncovered and what that kind of man's attitude to women with brains and opinions is.

the interviews/debates have been painful to watch! i have a great deal of respect for the women who have sat there on tv and gone through them flagrantly being called bigots, nazis, extremists, 'vocal' extreme minorities etc. i've also had to watch how interviewers allowed this and failed to challenge anything and actually fed into it with allowing a serious discussion to being watered down to false comparatives like, 'well should we not have bare male chests then?' or 'would you not wear a bikini on the beach then' etc. sadly even female presenters doing it.

ho hum. long way to go and as ever any minute victory comes with so much abuse and complaint it's untrue but a victory none the less.

very quick response from tesco.

I am very sorry to learn you are unhappy that we stock certain magazines and I would like to assure you that we certainly do not intend to cause any offence. At Tesco we are open and listen to feedback and we have recently met representatives from the ‘Lose the Lads’ Mags’ campaign to learn more about their concerns. We are also listening closely to the views of our customers and colleagues. By way of context, when selecting our magazine range, we always keep at the front of our mind that we are a family retailer and that the product choice needs to be appropriate. We do not stock any magazines classified by the industry as pornographic, and our range is in line with other major retailers. We ask our colleagues to ensure that the titles Zoo, Nuts and Front are always placed on the back tier of the top shelf, so that the cover is obscured, with only the title visible. We are considering carefully what further steps we could take to address your concerns. We are talking to the publishers of the magazines and have agreed to meet representatives from the ‘Lose the Lads’ Mags’ campaign again in the near future. We will of course keep the campaign updated on progress. We very much appreciate your feedback and thank you once again for taking the time to write to us. Kind regards'

if anyone else fancies writing to them.... http://www.tesco.com/help/contact/ tesco