Just when you thought it was safe to come out in Michigan comes word that retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is fielding similar distress signals from parents in Cleveland who consider the content if its Naughty or Nice catalog too racy.
On Wednesday, Illinois Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood, a mother of two teens and a preteen, in a letter asked Abercrombie Chairman and Chief Executive Mike Jeffries to pull the latest catalogue.
"This is wrong and we have asked they stop the sale and distribution of the catalogue, recall copies already in the stores and remove the catalogue from items that can be bought over the Internet," she told Reuters in an interview.
"We want them to stop using nudity for marketing purposes," she said.
Hampton Carney, a spokesman for Abercrombie said Jeffries was aware of the letter but had not seen it and could not respond.
Carney said Abercrombie knows of the concern over the catalogue's content and for over a year has sold it in a plastic wrapper that carries a warning urging parental guidance for readers under 18.
He said that in response to complaints by Michigan's Attorney General, the company in November said anyone purchasing the catalogue, which retails for $6 a copy, must show a photo ID that proves they are 18 or over.
Michigan Attorney General, Jennifer Granholm, had demanded Abercrombie ask for identification or face a fine for selling pornography to minors.
"This is in no way pornography. But we are aware that this is adult stuff and we have gone to great lengths so that they will only be seen by our target customers-- college kids between the ages of 18 and 22," he said.
The latest catalogue cover shows a half-clad male model of college age wearing jeans that hang very low on his hips standing in front of a Christmas tree holding a teddy bear. The "Naughty or Nice" is written on the side of the cover.
Wood has personally boycotted the store for her children and has called on other parents of teenage Abercrombie shoppers in her state to join her.
"This isn't about the college kids. Its about teenagers and preteens. Ask any kid in a middle school (ages 9 to 13) where they want to shop and they say Abercrombie," she said.
Wood is not alone in her sentiments. In Arkansas, a group of women recently called a press conference to protest the content of the catalogue. Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was speaking nearby when asked what he thought of their complaints said the catalogue was an exploitation of children which should not be done for profit, his spokesman said.
