Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), the biggest retailer in the United States, is pulling Cosmopolitan magazine from the shelves of its checkout lines, buckling to pressure created by a non-profit group which compares the magazine to pornography.
The magazine, which bills itself as a "bible for fun, fearless females”, will be removed from the checkout lines at 5,000 Walmart stores across the U.S. in the wake of a campaign launched by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. The non-profit group compares Cosmo to Playboy Magazine and has been waging a battle to stop the magazine from being prominently displayed at stores for years.
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In a statement, Dawn Hawkins, executive director at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said: “Cosmo targets young girls by placing former Disney stars on its covers, despite the enclosed sexually erotic articles which describe risky sexual acts like public, intoxicated, or anal sex in detail. Customers should not be forced to be exposed to this content when they are trying to check-out at the store.”
The magazine, which has been in circulation since 1886 and was first published as a literary magazine, will still be available at Walmart, but it will not be on display at checkout lines.
In Wednesday’s early trading session, shares in Walmart were up slightly to US$87.53.
Later in the day, shares added 2.12% to US$87.87.