Davis: Albertsons does disservice to customers by pulling mag
Continued from page 5
cause of an article entitled "Vagina
101."
The article contains information on
yeast and urinary tract infections,
vaginal discharge and pubic hair,
along with three illustrations of the fe
male privates.
The company's Intermountain Di
vision made the decision to remove
the magazine in 12 western states,
including the Beaver State (good
one, huh?).
Danielle Killpatrick, Oregon public
affairs director for Albertsons, told an
Arizona newspaper the store re
ceived complaints about the article,
but did not release any details as to
who made the original complaint.
We can only suspectthatthe com
plaint came from shoppers who found
the material offensive, especially
those shopping with children or
young teens.
It forces me to point out the obvi
ous: Don't walk down the aisle.
If I listened to every person on
13th Avenue, I'd be a hot-dog-eating,
frat-partying, joke-telling (some guy
was selling a political joke book for
$3) kid who subscribes to the news
paperfor$10 a trimester, has a cell
phone planfor$45 a month, goes to
church every Sunday and supports
gay and lesbian rights.
And unlike those on 13th Avenue,
the magazine doesn't scream, "Hey, I
saw you trying to get away!" It just
sits there.
If consumers don't wantto see "ex
plicit" material in their gardening
magazine, get the subscription by
mail. And make sure little Billy or Suzy
doesn't run off to aisle three.
The company likely received com
plaints from two old ladies, so we
can't blame the consumer in gener
al. The store is at fault for this idiotic
decision.
I applaud Albertsons for pulling
trash off of the racks, but it's a weak
effort.
Yes, I called it trash. There's a rea
son most of these magazines are
called guilty pleasures.
However, Seventeen defended it
self by upholding the article in a state
ment, saying its staff is dedicated to
writing on topics that concern its
readership.
Why discriminate in whattrash
you sell?
While the store does not sell Playboy
or Penthouse, a visitto the Coburg
Road Albertsons found FHM, Maxim,
Stuff, GQ and Esquire. Magazines
aimed at a younger audience included
CosmoGIRL!, Teen Vogue and Teen
People. A Women's Health cover con
tained a teaser on the coverthat read,
"Get What You Want In Bed."
Albertsons is not consistent in
what it does and does not sell.
Left on the shelf is soft-core porn,
but out goes an edition of Seventeen.
The store also does not sell hard-core
pornographic magazines.
No matter how trashy Seventeen
is, at least the magazine was trying to
educate young females on their body
and health.
The situation brings to mind Wal
Mart banning FHM, Maxim and Stuff
in 2003.
At least the superstore did some
thing right—kind of. Wal-Mart was
n't as choosey as Albertsons in their
decision making. Wal-Mart also
banned Sports Illustrated swimsuit
edition, Penthouse, Playboy, Playgirl
and a 2001 issue of InStyle.
Since the stores have decided to
become our censors, both should go
a step further. Why not stop all sales
of condoms, douches and tampons?
Let'sthrowin baby diapers just to be
safe.
Not only does Albertsons show in
consistencies in whattype of maga
zines they sell, they can't even de
cide where to blackball the
magazine.
Albertsons has 2,300 stores in
31 states.
Why is the issue still on the shelf in
the East? Apparently we are just a
bunch of prudes in the Northwest.
As a private entity, the store can
sell whatever it wants, but it's violat
ing the philosophies of the modern
grocery store: to provide products to
its customer.
The chain, founded by Joe Albert
sons in 1939, is based in Boise, Idaho.
According to the Albertsons Web
site, "Joe's original philosophy of
giving the customers the merchan
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dise they want... still applies today."
Like the newspaper must always
think of its readers, a grocery store
must think of its customers. The
newspaper industry can't deny
readers vital information. In the
same sense, a grocer should not
deny its customers certain products.
At the very least Albertsons offi
cials should let consumers know
why they are not providing certain
products and should be consistent in
their management decisions.
If they really want to help us out,
get some more checkers up there.
tdavis@dailyemerald.com
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