Wandering through WHSMith yesterday I was shocked and appalled to find amongst the colourful ring-binders and back to school deals on pencils, a variety of playboy style merchandise, advocating neon pink binders and pencils for prepubescent schoolgirls, and unwittingly setting them on the path to turn a la Jodie Marsh into the career of glamour model cum air hostess.
That may a slight over-exaggeration to be fair, but just when did retailers think it was acceptable to market a brand which essence implies sexuality at the impressionable minds of children?
True, nowadays being a child does not mean that you aren't targeted by an army of ruthless retailers, as you only have to look at the Bratz movie or Cosmo Girl to see the insidious adults infringing on the so called youth of the generation, but Playboy? Puh-lease! Its definition of itself as a brand includes top shelf pornography, and how is that any sort of message to give to children? All kids yearn to feel mature and 'grow up', but buying into a brand that actively encourages its members to shed their clothes can't be healthy.
I object to this type of merchandise being available, and available on the high street as well. Now parents will be under pressure by their teenagers to buy this, and then feel guilt tripped if they desist from buying into this mass sex consumerism which is sweeping the nation. How can a retailer like Smiths which professes to have family values stock Playboy items? It undermines their whole ethos. There is something intrinsically wrong in society where items such as these can be considered normal and if people don't object now it's only going to get worse.
