Anthropax's Old Blog

It seems that those ignorant bigots at Christian Voice are blackmailing Wooloworths into not stocking DVDs of 'Jerry Springer the Opera'. Now, while I would not watch the rather tacky show myself, I don't think that 10 people should be able to have it removed, so people cannot make up their own minds whether to purchase it or not. This is the group that bullied a cancer charity into giving up a £10,000 donation. With this in mind, I emailed Woolworths: From: Anthropax@googlemail.com To: Woolworths Customer Relations Dear Sir, I was upset to discover that Woolworths has removed the DVD of 'Jerry Springer the Opera' from sale, due to a small number of protests from the group "Christian Voice". "Christian Voice" is the same group that threatened a small cancer charity with pickets if it accepted a charitable donation of £10,000 from a gala performance of 'Jerry Springer the Opera', the charity was bullied into not accepting the donation, that could have made a large difference to peoples lives - does Woolworths wish to be associated with this group? "Christian Voice" also campaign against gay rights, removing its accounts from the CO-OP because of its promotion of equal rights - does Woolworths wish to be associated with such a group? By caving in to this group of extremists, that seem to be neither Christian, or the voice of British Christians, Woolworths seems to support the views held by the group. I usually spend over £100 in Woolworths over the festive period, and my family and friends spend far more, unless the DVD is reinstated for sale, I will boycott Woolworths stores, and strongly encourage those I know to do as well. Yours, [Anthropax] www.anthro_pax.blogspot.com Woolworths replied with a pretty stock answer: Dear Sir / Madam Woolworths is guided by legislation and regulatory bodies on what it can and cannot sell in its stores. Our decisions to sell products are based on customer demand. The product is not currently available in stores, however should a customer wish to purchase it, it is available from our website Regards, Woolworths Plc Needless to say, the following (counter-?) reply is winging its way to them: Dear Sir / Madam, From your reply, can I assume that Woolworths feels the BBFC guidelines not to be enough? The DVD is rated 18, and therefore only adults should be able to purchase it. Due to its content, I feel that this is perfectly valid. However, the decision to remove the DVD from stores not only discriminates against those without Internet access, but also is an insult to customers. As the DVD is rate 18, only adults may purchase it, as free moral agents, they may choose whether to purchase it, with the knowledge of its content, or not purchase it, deciding that the content may perhaps offend their personal morality, or that it lacked entertainment value. However, the decision to remove the choice of purchase from the adult individual is plain wrong. I find Jim Davidson's 'comedy' racist, misogynistic and homophobic, yet still feel that people should have the choice to purchase it if they wish. If I were a muslim, I may well find the idea of eating pork products disgusting, yet I would not lobby shops to stop selling bacon sandwiches. This is a highly illiberal act, and I feel a great sadness in having to withdraw my potential purchasing power from your stores, but I deem the action necessary. Yours, [Anthropax] Some useful links on the subject: Chicken Yogurt The Indie Bloggerheads ignorant bigots The BBC are covering it Mediawatch Watch