American Family Association protests Playboy's Marge Simpson cover, urges 7-11 to drop magazine

October 16, 5:18 PMSex & Relationships ExaminerSarah Estrella

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Predictably enough, the American Family Association is protesting the image of Marge Simpson on the cover of the November 2009 issue of Playboy, and calling upon 7-11 and other stores to pull the magazine from its displays where kids might be able to see them.

Via xbiz.com:

“Most American dads know the dangers that porn represents to young males. It’s irresponsible of 7-Eleven to display porn in front of boys who pop into 7-11s for a hot dog or a Slurpee,” said the AFA's Randy Sharp. “The cover will create the kind of curiosity that can easily lead [children] into an addictive porn habit. This is not what American families want to see in their neighborhood convenience store.”

While I'm normally on the polar opposite of the American Family Association on most issues – the conservative organization tried to stop passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, stands strongly against marriage equality for same-sex couples, is currently boycotting Pepsi for "supporting the homosexual activists" and frequently broadcasts alarmist headlines like "ObamaCare will put Planned Parenthood clinics inside your child's school" and "What did President Obama pledge to the largest homosexual organization in America?" – they might actually have a point on this one, for the same reason that it's no longer cool to use Joe Camel and other cartoon characters to market cigarettes and other vices: Adults can and should make their own decisions about what they want to have a look at, but minors don't necessarily need a beloved cartoon character luring them into the leery section of the magazine rack. They'll find their way to it for other reasons soon enough.

The AFA's sample letter it's urging members to send to 7-11 president Joseph DePinto reads:

Dear President DePinto,

My family and I were disappointed to learn that 7 Eleven plans to sell the Marge Simpson edition of Playboy magazine in 1,200 stores.

Pornography promotes a hedonistic lifestyle that is often highly addictive, harmful to marriages and influences anti-social and sometimes criminal behavior.  In the eyes of most women pornography is degrading and highly offensive.

7 Eleven has been known for many years to be free from selling such explicit materials.  Many concerned families have patronized 7 Eleven stores in the past over other stores because of your company position not to sell pornographic materials.

Please reconsider your decision to sell Playboy magazine.

I look forward to sharing your response with my family and friends.

The AFA has previously targeted for Playboy for marketing to children, questioning "sexually themed children's T-shirts, animal-print high-heeled slippers for babies, and pink pencil cases with the Playboy logo on them."

Here's more on Randy Sharp and the AFA, via media.AFA.net:

Randy Sharp is director of special projects for American Family Association, a pro-family advocacy organization with over two million online supporters. He also serves as a contributing writer for the AFA Journal, the ministry's monthly publication with approximately 150,000 subscribers.

As director of special projects, Randy manages AFA's online activism web sites, including OneMillionMoms.com and OneMillionDads.com through which parents can voice their concerns over indecent broadcast programming. Through AFA's online entities, AFA rallies hundreds of thousands of Christian activists to contact companies and ask that they drop their advertising from objectionable TV shows. Companies that responded positively in 2004 include Hasbro, SC Johnson, Tyson Foods, Lowe's, Geico, Best Buy, Foot Locker, Finish Line, Cellboost, Nissan, Goodyear, LeapFrog, Castrol, Ocean Spray, Nextel and Dodge.