FW: [afalert] Kmart Back in Porn Business
Posted by: rsssjm <rsssjm@...>
----- Original Message -----
From: AFA Action Alert
To: AFA Action Alert
Sent: 8/31/2001 6:00:51 PM
Subject: [afalert] Kmart Back in Porn
Business
AFA Action Alert
American Family Association
Dr. Donald E. Wildmon, President
Tim Wildmon, Vice President
Buddy Smith, Editor
P.O. Drawer 2440
Tupelo, MS 38803
Phone (662) 844-5036
Fax (662) 842-7798
URL: http://www.afa.net
*************************
Please forward this Alert to a friend and encourage them to subscribe. To
Subscribe go to alerts.afa.net or
send e-mail to: afalert-join@lyris.afo.net NOTE: No
further information is required of you; simply send the email to the above
address and you will automatically be subscribed.
*************************
August 31, 2001
***************
During the past 11 years, millions of young people have bowed to pray
for
their schools as part of See You at the PoleNational Day of Student
Prayer, asking God to bring moral and spiritual awakening to their
campuses and their countries. This year, the event is scheduled for
Wednesday, September 19. Desperate for God, the 2001 See You at the
Pole
(SYATP) theme, refers to Psalm 84:2. The psalmists spiritual hunger
describes what many teenagers have expressed as their hearts cry out
to
the living God for fulfillment. For more information, contact: David
Overstreet or Doug Clark (858) 451-1111 FAX: (858) 451-6900 E-mail:
pray@syatp.com Internet: http://www.syatp.com
***************
KMART BACK IN THE PORN BUSINESS
[ Online Format: http://www.afa.net/activism/aa083101.asp
]
AOL: http://www.afa.net/activism/aa083101.asp " CLICK HERE
Kmart has decided to return to the pornography business. Following a
successful boycott of the company by the American Family Association
in
the early 1990s, which ended with Kmart getting out of the porn
business
and being a socially responsible company, new Chairman Chuck Conaway
has
made a decision to return to selling obscene material.
A decade ago Kmart was one of the nation's number one sellers of
pornography through its Waldenbooks bookstores. The resulting AFA
boycott
was so effective that in 1995, when Floyd Hall was appointed chairman
and
chief executive officer of Kmart, he wrote AFA President Donald E.
Wildmon
a personal letter, saying he had directed Kmart to get out of the
porn
business.
"The purpose of my letter today is to inform you and your supporters
that
Kmart, under my leadership, will honor its tradition as a
family-oriented
store that shares many of the same values as your organization," Hall
wrote. "Our mission is to be a store of choice for America's
families.
...Kmart will continue to uphold our social responsibility through
good
citizenship ...."
However, when Chairman Charles Conaway took over, he decided to take
Kmart
back into the porn business by selling obscene, violent music CDs. Much
of
the music promotes activities such as killing parents and law
officials,
gang-raping girls, and having sex with animals. Many also include the
most
vulgar profanities.
Wildmon said, "The content of these CDs is sick, and for a retailer
that
purports to be a family store to distribute such filth to our children
is
inexcusable."
Wildmon has written twice asking Conaway to stop selling such music,
but
Conaway has steadfastly refused. Instead, Kmart has labeled the CDs
with
stickers noting their objectionable content.
In a press release, the company said, "Please be assured that Kmart
does
not condone the lyrics contained on Parental Advisory CDs and tapes,"
but
that nevertheless, the music will be sold at Kmart stores. In a letter
to
Wildmon, Conaway said the decision to carry "explicit music" was merely
in
response "to customer demand."
LACK OF PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN
In what amounted to Kmart's only justification for the new policy,
Conaway
assured Wildmon in his letter that no one under age 17 would be allowed
to
purchase music which contained warning stickers.
Wildmon, however, said such words were hardly comforting. "Those
labels
are nothing more than neon signs shouting out to young people: 'Here's
the
good stuff! Here are the lyrics and songs your parents don't want you
to
listen to! Get your older friends to buy them for you,' " he said.
In order to prove that assertion, AFA sent two 13-year-old girls,
accompanied by a 17-year-old friend, into a Kmart store to purchase a
stickered album. The 13-year-olds purchased the CD without even being
questioned by the cashier.
"Kmart's policy is a sham, meant only to give cover while the company
trades in pornography," Wildmon said. "Even in stores which follow
the
policy, all a minor has to do to purchase pornographic music is have
a
neighbor, an older friend, a total stranger -- anyone over age 17 --
give
their age to the checkout clerk. And then Kmart can boast, 'No one
under
age 17 has purchased one of these explicit albums!' That policy will
not
protect our children, and our communities will suffer for it. Anything
for
a buck is still the Kmart way."
ACTION NEEDED
AFA is once again calling for a boycott of Kmart. Wildmon said he is
asking concerned supporters to contact their local Kmart manager and
Conaway, informing them "in a kind way" they will not shop at their
stores
until they change their policy.
Please take the following steps:
1) Make a toll-free call the Kmart at their customer care desk
(1-866-562-7848) and tell them, in a kind way, that you will not shop
at
their stores until they change their policy, and that you plan to
tell
your friends about Kmart's involvement with pornographic and violent
music.
2) Call your local Kmart and give the manager the same message.
3) Contact Chrm. Conaway with the same message at the address below.
Kmart Corporation
Charles C. Conaway
Chairman and CEO
3100 W. Big Beaver Rd.
Troy, MI 48084
Customer Care Desk: (toll free) 1-866-562-7848
Main Phone: 248-463-1000
Fax: 248-463-5636
Email: cconaway@kmart.com
---
To Subscribe send e-mail to: afalert-join@lyris.afo.net
NOTE: No further information is required of you; simply send the email to
the above address and you will automatically be
subscribed.