October 17, 2012 
WARNING: This post contains highly offensive, hateful and sexually explicit material that Coles and Woolworths gleefully promote each week. It also contains swearing and multiple heinous breaches of the English language and grammar.
Adam takes a seat in the small, windowless room. The woman on the opposite side of the table smiles. Like her male companion, she’s wearing an immaculate business suit.
The man nods his head amiably. ‘I’m William,’ he says. ‘From Woolworths. And this is Cara from Coles.’ He gestures towards the woman.
‘Pleased to meet you,’ Cara says professionally.
William clasps his hands together seriously. ‘Now, Adam, it’s quite rare for our two supermarkets to meet a customer together, but this is such an important issue that we have decided to present a united front.’
‘Excellent,’ Adam says, still surprised that they’ve decided to meet him at all, but encouraged they’re taking allegations of sexism so seriously.
William produces two copies of Adam’s letter. He gives one to Cara. ‘We’ve both read your letter about Zoo Weekly magazine,’ he says. Then he glances down at a notepad on the table. ‘At Woolworths we understand that every customer has a different opinion.’
Adam narrows his eyes suspiciously.
Cara takes up the baton. ‘Likewise, Adam, at Coles, we aim to provide our customers with a wide range of products that appeal to a broad range of consumer tastes.’ Her eyes are also flicking back and forth from a notepad.
‘Yes, I understand that,’ Adam says. ‘But my point is that this magazine promotes the kind of misogyny and objectification that is totally inconsistent with your values. By selling Zoo in supermarkets alongside everyday products, you are normalising the sexploitation within its covers. You’re teaching people that disrespecting women is as acceptable as buying grapefruit.’
William responds first. ‘We do also understand that there are many different opinions held by our customers.’
Adam blinks uncomprehendingly. Didn’t he just say that?
Cara also stays on script. ‘To help ensure a comfortable shopping experience for all customers, we only place these particular men’s magazines in the reading centres within our stores and not on the stands next to the registers.’
Adam regains his voice. ‘What’s that got to do with anything? I’m not talking about the display of the magazines. I’m asking you to stop selling them altogether.’
William smiles magnanimously. ‘Yes, well said Cara. At Woolworths, Zoo is positioned in selected stores only in the magazine reading centre in the aisle. This is done to reduce the exposure to our customers of these magazines as we understand that every customer has a different opinion and we respect that it can be offensive to some.’
This is ridiculous. Adam has to get them off script. ‘You’ve seen the examples of content I sent in my letter.’ He points to the pages in front of William and Cara:
- A search for Australia’s hottest asylum seeker (subsequently withdrawn after public outrage)
- A Super-sized Celebration of Boobs containing no less than 75 pictures of semi-naked and naked women, some just close-ups of body parts
- Street strip search – “We hit the streets and somehow convince girls to get their kit off”
- Sex tips from animals
- 2012’s sickest jokes
- One and a half pages of phone sex advertisements in a single edition
‘Well that’s barely the tip of the iceberg.’ Adam opens his laptop. ‘Here are some examples of what Zoo has been running lately on its Facebook page.’
This woman’s face appeared in the photo Zoo published. I have blocked it out because she has been demeaned enough.
Cara draws back in shock. Or horror. Probably both. William maintains his corporate smile, but has the good grace to allow a hint of disgust to flash across his eyes.
‘Exactly,’ Adam says, relieved at last that the human beings have surfaced. ‘You see what I mean. How can you possibly be actively promoting and selling a magazine that facilitates this kind of sexism and degradation?’
Cara shakes her head. A short, swift maneuver. Her eyes flick to the notepad again. ‘Adam, magazines such as Zoo do not have a classification rating, as set by the Classification Board, and form part of our men’s interest range of magazines. Coles only sells unclassified magazines.’
‘What?’
‘These magazines are widely available across all supermarkets, variety stores, newsagents and many other outlets,’ William says.
Adam’s frustration turns to anger. ‘Are you actually listening to me? Can’t you see what you’re part of here? Can’t you see that by selling this hatred, you’re also endorsing it?’
Cara cracks first. ‘You can’t expect us to be responsible for the social media pages of the magazines we sell. That’s totally unreasonable!’
‘I’m not asking you to be! But I can expect you to make choices about your magazines that aren’t linked to outright misogyny.’
Cara stares silently at her notepad for a moment. When she looks back up at Adam, the glazed, corporate eyes have returned. ‘Like I said, Adam, Coles only sells unclassified magazines and magazines such as Zoo do not have a classification rating, as set by the Classification Board.’
William: ‘And at Woolworths, we do also understand that there are many different opinions held by our customers and we will take your comments on board when reviewing our magazine category.’
Adam stares dumbfounded. ‘Is this a joke?’ he asks.
‘Thank you for your time, Adam,’ Cara says in a small voice. ‘We are not looking to remove Zoo from Coles, however, we have taken note of your concerns to assist with future reviews of our magazine range. I hope you understand our position.’
***
TAKE ACTION
This story is based on the responses I received from both Woolworths and Coles (through parent company Wesfarmers) when I wrote to them about removing Zoo from sale. Clearly, the message didn’t get through, so I don’t suggest you do the same.
What you can do, though, is support my posts on the Woolworths Facebook page and Coles Facebook page in the hope they will force them to take this issue seriously.
Or, you could leave your thoughts below and share this post if you think it’s on the mark.
Thanks! Guy
Wow, blown away. Collective Shout led me to you. I’ve emailed both Coles and Woolies expressing my dismay. Guy, liking and sharing you on FB! Keep it up!
Thanks Helen – appreciate your support! Hopefully if enough of us take a stand, the supermarkets will be forced into some positive action.
For someone who is so against Zoo magazine, you seem to spend an awful amount of time and money buying and reading them…
Hmmm. Well I’m a woman and I don’t feel demeaned by Zoo magazine or any magazine like it. If boofheads want to read it, fine. I had no idea that Coles and Woolworths sold it and to be honest, I don’t care. Does this mean they should also stop selling Cosmo and Cleo, which (while not in the same league as Zoo) basically paint men as idiots and simpletons?
Thanks for your comment Kerrie. I think the subjective test of whether an individual feels demeaned is perhaps too narrow, because we’ll always have people on both sides.
The question is whether, objectively, the content is sexist and misogynistic. In Zoo’s case, it is, by very definition, whether a person feels offended by it or not.
So the next question we have to ask is whether it is acceptable to normalise sexism and misogyny by having it on sale in supermarkets. That’s where I believe we need to draw a line.
I don’t understand how you can be a woman and not be offended by this (not even what is being said on the Facebook page?)…but hey, there are a lot of things I do not understand in this world… I never heard any woman talking about men the way these men talk about women, not even women who read Cosmo (seriously, you think Cosmo is as demeaning to men as this is to women??)
Can I ask why you seem intent on stirring up a hornets nest over something that each individual has control over? If magazines of this nature are one of the causes of a minority of males behaviours than using the same misguided logic means that spoons make people fat. Whilst I don’t condone these types of behaviours I would think it more practical to educate people that they have a choice, as opposed to branding the distributors of the publication as being the source. If you don’t like porn don’t watch it. If you don’t like meat then don’t eat it.
Personally as a man I am offended at the constant barrage of half naked men leading women to believe that only men with six packs are real men…
You might be better served as a male coming out in our defence….I am sure there are enough feminists out there already…….
Hi father of 2. Thanks for your comment.
Perhaps I haven’t made my point clear. Yes, I have control over whether I buy these magazines, and I don’t. What I’m concerned about is the broader impact they have on our society. In this case, having them for sale in supermarkets teaches us that the behaviour they encourage is normal and acceptable, which you acknowledge it is not.
In terms of objectification of males, I oppose and advocate against it as well.
Posted an inquiry on Coles’ facebook wall asking why they sold it and just got the stock standard auto response. Accompanied by a couple of women telling me it’s the exact same thing as women’s gossip magazines. *facepalm
Also, now a torrent of abuse from men saying it’s just cause I’m a bitter woman who’s too ugly to get on the magazine, therefore I protest against it. Since you’re a guy, though, their responses to me would perhaps be different to yours. What sort of backlash did you get from other guys over this?
Cassandra, I just read the responses to your post and I am absolutely speechless. What a disgusting, vile reaction that vindicates our position that Coles is supporting society’s widespread culture of sexism and misogyny. I hope you have not wasted any more time reading those comments. We have every right to be heard and I stand in admiration of your courage.
I experienced nothing like that level of abuse – is it because I am a man, again vindicating our position? The worst I received was because I used my FB blog profile ‘The World Tells Me’ and was told to “stop hiding behind that profile, if you’re going to question corporations like this at least have the nuts to say it from a legitimate profile, coward.”
Coles must act to stop this disgusting behaviour.
You do realise, that fabricating an account like this opens you up to defamation? It it was a wholly accurate account (which it is not, as stated in the article) then it would be fine. Instead it is an amalgamation of hearsay and fabricated with a dose of bias.
Just an FYI.
Fantastic article, I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m 22 and I’m sick of seeing the amount of young guys who read this magazine and how influenced they are by it. I think it’s disgusting that they sell this magazine at my University.
Thanks Laura.
How this could possibly be sold at an institution of higher learning is beyond me.
I guess money talks louder than upholding your own values at supermarkets and universities alike.
I wrote to Woolworths and was given the BS response from the (female) magazine buyer ‘we keep it high up so as not to offend anyone”. To which i replied, that their response was an admission that they know that Zoo is an offensive publication. I clarified that i am not offended by seeing the magazine but by them selling it. Big surprise they ignored my second email. After over 20 years as a Coles and Woolies customer I now shop at the local fruit&veg and butcher. Thanks to Collective Shout alerting me to the magazine’s presence in the store.
The comments from men and boys on the Zoo facebook page are so women-hate-filled it is mind blowing. That facebook is allowed to publish them is a legal curiosity. I know, I know, the usual ‘we didn’t say it ourselves, we are just the medium others use to insight hate’ defense is always used. But, seriously, whatever happened to common sense?
Zoo is vicious and demeaning to women and overtly misogynist. Its title ‘Zoo’ is the warning. A Zoo has animals in captivity (and are powerless and living truncated lives) and the pages are full of women! Hmm, nope there is nothing subtle about that. According to Zoo women are captives under male control. As for the few women who claim not to be offended by such misogyny? well, the words: brain-washed; self-loathing; denial and dishonest, spring to mind.
Keep up the vital work, Guy.
Thanks Weatherwax, really appreciate your support. You’ve clearly encountered the same breathtaking hypocrisy that I did.
Totally agree that this has very little to do with being offended by the display of the magazine and everything to do with promoting the vicious misogyny within its pages.
Neither Coles nor Woolworths will answer a direct question about whether they support the content within Zoo, which speaks volumes.
All about money and nothing to do with corporate social responsibility.
Can you make a Change.org petition to demand Woolworths and Coles stop selling Zoo?