# No Joke: Now you can't buy maxim, FHM, or Stuff at Wal-Mart because they're too racy! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 6, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393 "2003-05-06T14:23:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/1 "2003-05-06T14:23:20Z")
According to this New York Times article published today, Wal-Mart will henceforth not sell the aformentioned magazines. Since you may need to register to read the article, allow me to quote some relevant excerpts: > [@](#): > > \*\* > Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest retailer, said yesterday that it had halted sales of Maxim, Stuff and FHM, men’s magazines that feature a mix of scantily clad starlets and bawdy humor but go to some lengths to avoid being labeled as pornography. > > . . . > > The standards and general content of the magazines have not changed, but Wal-Mart, which is based in Bentonville, Ark., has been under pressure from Christian groups in the past over its distribution of various magazines. > > The decision to stop selling the so-called lads’ magazines is the latest in a series of moves by the company to limit distribution of entertainment products it judges too racy for its shoppers. The company has refused to sell CD’s that carry warning labels about explicit lyrics; instead, Wal-Mart Stores sell sanitized versions of albums, with some songs omitted or covers redrawn to pass muster with the chain’s buyers. The stores also ask for age identification from purchasers of video games with mature-audience ratings. > > . . . > > Magazine industry executives said Wal-Mart occasionally declines to sell particular issues of some magazines, including the September 2001 issue of InStyle that featured an artfully arranged nude photo of the actress Kate Hudson. Last year, Wal-Mart also took exception to a single photo in a compilation of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues and decided not to sell the one-time publication. > > . . . > > “We respect Wal-Mart’s right to make a product decision, however we do not agree,” said a spokeswoman for FHM, which is owned by Emap of Britain. “FHM never publishes full frontal nudity and never will. And FHM is far more consistent in its adherence to this policy than Details, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue and many women’s fashion magazine’s, which publish bare breasts under the guise of art.” > > . . . > > The Timothy Plan, a mutual funds management firm that invests in companies based in part on whether the companies share its values, has been pressing Wal-Mart to pull women’s magazines like Cosmopolitan and Glamour from checkout lanes and put them back into the magazine rack. Arthur Ally, president of the Timothy Plan, said that he saw magazines like Maxim and FHM as “a level worse.” > > “It is soft-core pornography,” he said. “It’s very addictive and leads to harder stuff.”\*\* Words almost fucking fail me! I didn’t start this thread do debate whether those magazines are appropriate, because I don’t think I have that right. But apparently _Wal-Mart_ does! I am just so tired with reading about them connected to this type of bullshit. I already never go there to buy CDs. And their magazine rack was no great shakes already, since they’ve pared it down to stuff that nobody smarter than a teenager wants to read. Apparently, they think their entire customer base lives in South Carolina. Geez. I’m just so annoyed I can’t even type anything good right now. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/2 "2003-05-06T14:34:50Z")
So what? I mean yeah, it sucks-but it’s Walmart’s decision. They don’t have to sell anything they don’t want to. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/3 "2003-05-06T14:49:38Z")
My point was that this is ultimately a stupid thing to do because people _want_ to buy the stuff they’re not selling. I don’t buy CDs at Wal-Mart now because I don’t want some altered piece of crap designed for an 8-year-old. I actually have bought a few of the magazines mentioned in the OP, But I won’t even bother going to the mag rack there now, since they were pretty much the only things Wal-Mart carried I was still interested. (Apparently, nobody in BFE, where most Wal-Marts are located, wants to buy The Economist or the Wall Street Journal, so they don’t stock those either.) A key part of running _any_ business is **listening to what the customer wants.** Wal-Mart apparently thinks some customers are worth listening to, and others aren’t. That makes me very uncomfortable. I’m should be as important as every other customer because we’re all spending the same money. But no. A certain group, which doesn’t own the store, is offended that a certain product is _even on the shelves_, so therefore, I have to go elsewhere to buy it. Thanks Wal-Mart. Maybe I’ll buy everything else I need at that other store, too. ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/4 "2003-05-06T14:51:34Z")
I just have to say that this: > [@](#): > > **"It is soft-core pornography," he said. "It’s very addictive and leads to harder stuff."** is just hilarious. I almost fell off my chair. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/5 "2003-05-06T14:54:06Z")
Oh-well exactly, I agree with you there. Yeah, you should listen to your customers. I can understand, though, not wanting to sell something. I know of a local store that was later closed that decided to stop selling tabloids after the death of Princess Di. _shrugs_ They did enough business in other things, though, that it really wouldn’t matter. Wal-Mart doesn’t HAVE to sell EVERYTHING. However, Wal-Mart sucks, we all know that. But people will keep going there. I worked at Kmart for four years-the place was going to hell in a handbasket, the higher ups were totally incompetant, yet they still did a good business. It’s pandering to the lowest common denominator. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/6 "2003-05-06T14:59:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carrot \* > \*\*I just have to say that this: > > ## quote: > > ## “It is soft-core pornography,” he said. “It’s very addictive and leads to harder stuff.” > > is just hilarious. I almost fell off my chair. \*\* Everybody knows that Maxim is a gateway magazine 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/7 "2003-05-06T15:00:50Z")
WAL-MART = PRUDE ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/8 "2003-05-06T15:02:26Z")
Every day I just hear a few more things about Walmart that make me never want to patronize them again. They treat their workers terribly, the banning of videos and magazines, not to mention a hideous over use of the ultimate 80s color “Royal Blue”. Wal-Mart sucks ---
**Author:** ![Fin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@Fin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fin_man)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/9 "2003-05-06T15:06:11Z")
Yes, it sucks when it is hard to find want you want to buy but I guess Walmart decided that the possible loss of business by you and others that feel the same way is less than the possible loss of business by those offended by Maxim etal. When I need to go buy an issue of Penthouse, a rifle, and some vodka, I can’t go to Walmart. I’ll live. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/10 "2003-05-06T15:09:09Z")
Actually, you CAN get a rifle at Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![Fin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@Fin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fin_man)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/11 "2003-05-06T15:14:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Actually, you CAN get a rifle at Walmart. \*\* Since there aren’t any Walmarts near me, I did a search on [www.walmart.com](http://www.walmart.com) and rifles weren’t listen. Scopes and accessories were, but not rifles. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/12 "2003-05-06T15:14:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*I know of a local store that was later closed that decided to stop selling tabloids after the death of Princess Di. _shrugs_ They did enough business in other things, though, that it really wouldn’t matter. Wal-Mart doesn’t HAVE to sell EVERYTHING. > > However, Wal-Mart sucks, we all know that. But people will keep going there. I worked at Kmart for four years-the place was going to hell in a handbasket, the higher ups were totally incompetant, yet they still did a good business. > \*\* Well, I would dispute your examples. K-Mart was manifestly _not_ doing a good business, at least on the national level, because they went bankrupt! And the store you mentioned stopped selling tabloids and is now closed. Obviously, its entire business was not tabloids, but I know from my time in journalism that those publications outsell almost every other newspaper. Getting rid of them probably disappointed many people who formerly bought them at that store. They then went elsewhere to buy their tabloids, and possibly everything else they needed that they formerly bought at the other store. And in a greater sense, that’s what this is all about. People go to a store to buy general things (like food, or a plastic bucket) and then they go to buy _specific_ things, like a certain magazine, toy, or CD. You can buy the general things at any one of a number of stores: Target, Wal-Mart, Meijer, Giant, etc. But if I know I can’t buy the specific things I usually want at a certain one of these places, well, then I just have no reason to shop there at all. Wal-Mart is essentially undercutting its own business. They can get away with it for now, because as that article pointed out in a section I didn’t quote, in many rural areas they are really the only store around. But the history of business clearly shows that _cutting_ the number of products you sell is not a way to get ahead in retail. You merely make it easier for competitors who are willing to sell those products to get a foot into the door. ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/13 "2003-05-06T15:16:58Z")
> [@](#): > > A key part of running any business is listening to what the customer wants The thing is, Wal-Mart dosn’t have to listen to what the customer wants. They are big enough, with enough buying power, that they can sell most crap cheaper than any local store. They move in, steal enough customers from other store so that they are forced to close. By that time the customers are euchred, there is no other place to shop. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/14 "2003-05-06T15:17:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fin\_man \* > \*\*Since there aren’t any Walmarts near me, I did a search on [www.walmart.com](http://www.walmart.com) and rifles weren’t listen. Scopes and accessories were, but not rifles. \*\* They probably weren’t listed because you can’t buy a gun through a website. Every Wal-Mart I’ve ever been in sold rifles and shotguns. At a good price, too. I bought my first .22 and first varmint rifle (a bolt-action .243) there. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/15 "2003-05-06T15:20:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fin\_man \* > \*\* > When I need to go buy an issue of Penthouse, a rifle, and some vodka, I can’t go to Walmart. I’ll live. \*\* I have often thought a great idea for a chain store would be some place that sold guns, porn, and tobacco, all in the same place. Maybe booze too, but I’m not sure that’s even legal. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/16 "2003-05-06T15:24:22Z")
> [@](#): > > The standards and general content of the magazines have not changed, but Wal-Mart, which is based in Bentonville, Ark., has been under pressure from Christian groups in the past over its distribution of various magazines. Gah!! If there is any group that I utterly despise, it’s goddman do-gooders who impose their views on everyone else, whether it’s prudish Christians who think nudity is evil (which makes me wonder why they worship the being that supposedly created nudity in the first place) or liberals who want to ban “Huckleberry Finn” because the word “nigger” is used. On the other hand, since Wal-Mart markets itself to the uneducated yokels who inhabit small towns in the South and Midwest, you can’t blame it too harshly for acceding to the wishes of its customer base. ---
**Author:** ![Fin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@Fin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fin_man)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/17 "2003-05-06T15:24:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lizard \* > \*\*I have often thought a great idea for a chain store would be some place that sold guns, porn, and tobacco, all in the same place. Maybe booze too, but I’m not sure that’s even legal. \*\* They should be able to sell them all. They would only have to be regulated by the ATF (and is there a porno regulator?) ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/18 "2003-05-06T15:42:30Z")
I guess the skin on the cover of Maxim was just too jarring when placed next to all the uplifting spiritual crap that is infesting Wal-Mart and growing at alarming rates. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/19 "2003-05-06T15:42:51Z")
Wal-mart sucks! They’re terrible! And now they’re doing this lame-brained thing that’s gonna cost them business, and I’m upset about it! Huh? I think this is a fantastic move on Wal-Mart. I just wish they’d quit selling medicine, bowing to pressure from the Christian Scientists, and would quit selling makeup, bowing to pressure from Jehovah’s Witnesses, and would quit selling electronic entertainment, bowing to pressure from the Amish. (the Amish as a strident pressure group. Tee hee!) And while they’re at it, I’ll applaud once they bow to pressure from animal-rights folks and quit selling animal-derived products, and when they bow to pressure from Dworkinites and quit selling Cosmopolitan, and bow to pressure from anti-tobacco groups and quit selling cigarettes. Wal-mart sucks! They’re terrible! And now they’re doing this lame-brained thing that’s gonna cost them business! Woo hoo! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393/20 "2003-05-06T15:51:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Magayuk \* > **The thing is, Wal-Mart dosn’t have to listen to what the customer wants. They are big enough, with enough buying power, that they can sell most crap cheaper than any local store.** Wow, you contradict yourself in the span of two sentences. Wal-Mart _does_ listen to their customers. What their customers want is lots of stuff sold at the absolute lowest price possible, even at the expense of good service and knowledgeable employees. It is listening to this deafening message from their customers that allowed them to become “big enough” to have enough “buying power” to undecut the competition. \*\* > [@](#): > > They move in, steal enough customers from other store so that they are forced to close.\*\* I had no idea that customers “belonged” to particular retail establishments, and that wooing those customers away amounted to theft. Please do tell me which retailer my business “belongs” to – I wouldn’t want to be an accessory to a crime by shopping around. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-joke-now-you-cant-buy-maxim-fhm-or-stuff-at-wal-mart-because-theyre-too-racy/173393.md?page=2)