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Is Playboy marketing to kids?

Categories: Kids 8-11, Teens & tweens, Love & Sex, In The News, Media

Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, and the Playboy Bunny. Which of these does not belong? Obviously, the Playboy bunny symbol has little in common with Winnie and Mickey, but that doesn't mean they can't be friends, right? That would seem to be the thinking of a High Street retailer who stocks products featuring all three side by side on the shelves.

This mingling of cute children's characters with the mascot of Playboy magazine has at least one customer hopping mad. The Reverend Tim Jones discovered the inappropriate product placement while shopping at a Stationery Box store in the U.K. with his seven-year-old daughter. There on the shelves, right next to the Mickey Mouse stationary and the Winnie the Pooh notebooks, were similar products featuring the well-known bunny logo.

Reverend Jones left the store in disgust, but later returned with a petition objecting to the marketing of Playboy products to children. He got the store to move the offending items pending a "merchandising review", but believes the problem lies in the source - Playboy Enterprises.
Of Playboy's marketing strategy, he says, "Ultimately, what they are trying to do is normalise pornography even among much younger children. It is indirect but not accidental. It is deliberate, intentional, cynical and wicked and must be resisted. If cigarette companies started producing pencil cases and pens for children, people would go bananas."

A Playboy spokesperson insists the products, which include pink pencil cases, notebooks, folders, diaries, gel pens and ring binders, are intended for adults only. "We were surprised to discover that Playboy stationery has been so inappropriately positioned. Playboy's target audience is 18 to 34-year-olds, so we clearly did not authorise or approve the placement of our product next to such well-known children's characters. We will be reviewing this situation immediately."

Maybe so, but this High Street store isn't the first to be accused of marketing Playboy products to children. W H Smith stores do it without apology, saying they strive to reach a balance that meets the needs of all customers "whilst not acting as a censor".

What do you think about this? Has the Playboy bunny lost its sex-appeal to the point where it is now just another cute children's cartoon character? Or is Playboy really trying to normalize porn in the minds of children?

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