Sears pedals porn...

CHICAGO, Illinois, August 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Retail giant Sears, which was exposed last week for marketing pornographic posters through their website, could be facing a boycott if they continue their refusal to remove the products.

“Sears is playing with fire. Sears is the place that American families are used to going, … and I just cannot imagine that the vast majority of their customer base wants to shop at a place that’s marketing pornography,” said Bryan Fischer, director of issues analysis at the American Family Association (AFA). “There are a lot of other places that American families can shop for the same goods they get at Sears.”

The AFA broke the news about the posters in an action alert August 3rd after the company refused to respond to more than a half dozen attempts at communication. The posters, which AFA has published in an edited form behind three warning walls, depict nudity and groups of people involved in sexual activities, including one featuring two women.

Sears appears to be digging in its heels on the issue, based on their response to one of AFA’s supporters. Chris B., a Sears employee, wrote: “We … have reviewed the products in question and found that they do not fall outside our marketplace guidelines.”

“Sears is taking their stand. They are going to defend the merchandising of soft-core pornography on their website,” commented Fischer.

Asked if AFA will launch a boycott, Fischer said they will continue monitoring Sears’ response. “If they continue to stonewall and stick a thumb in the eye of American families and their values, then at some point you need to do something,” he said.

The company has also drawn a rebuke from the influential social scientist Dr. Judith Reisman, an expert on the damaging effects of the sexual revolution. In an interview with WorldNetDaily, Reisman lambasted Sears for using pornography to turn a profit, emphasizing that the scientific research clearly shows porn to have a dangerous impact on our brains and our physical and mental health.

"Sears' management clearly agreed that pornography would conscript children and vulnerable adults as consumers," she said. "The Sears pornography adverts had to survive multiple administrative debates, redrafts and societal cost-benefit analyses before they got the green light.”

"Children cannot buy alcohol because their bodies and brains are corrupted by its toxins," she said. "Similarly, Sears' reckless distribution of pornography, of 'erototoxins' in the public space should be charged with deliberate brain damage - bringing the role of dopamine as a 'natural drug' to an American jury. Let the scientific challenge begin!"

The AFA is calling on men and women of good will to demand that Sears remove the products from their website and their line.


Contact Information:

Larry Costello, Public Relations Director
Sears Holdings Corp.
Phone: 1-847-286-9036
E-mail: larry.costello@searshc.com