WH Smith slammed for selling Playboy stationery to schoolgirls

by Julia Pearlman, Brand Republic 16-Aug-05, 08:40

LONDON - WH Smith has come under fire frrom a pressure group for selling Playboy-branded stationery to schoolgirls, claiming that it is endorsing pornography to young and impressionable minds.

The stationery has been branded with Playboy's iconic bunny symbol and is being sold as pupils begin to prepare for the new school year.

The UK pressure group Object has criticised WH Smith as "irresponsible" for promoting a brand that is widely recognised as being part of the sex industry.

Playboy, which was established as a pornographic magazine in 1953 by Hugh Hefner, has extended its icon through Playboy Enterprises, with products ranging from stationery and chocolate to mobile phone covers.

WH Smith is not the first high-street store to market the predominantly pink Playboy items to young girls -- Argos and Debenhams sell products such as the Playboy chair and CD and cassette player.

The WH Smith stationery range includes pink ring binders, mini pads, diaries, zip files, gel pens and eraser sets.

Object has been formed to campaign against the way young women are increasingly shown in a sexual way in order to sell newspapers, magazines and other products.

Jennifer Drew, chair of Object, said: "We are challenging the normalisation of porn into mainstream media. We feel that the move by WH Smith to sell Playboy items and direct this merchandise to young girls is wrong. In doing so, it is giving out the message that it is acceptable to have girls as sex objects. Object is not against sexuality, but it is against exploitation."

WH Smith is claiming that the stationery is being sold as a popular fashion range and that the image is not inappropriate in any way. The group also argues that many youngsters do not know what the image stands for.

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