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KMART BOYCOTT

Kids can still buy violent, sex-laden CDs at Kmart



AFA Journal, November/December 2001 Edition

Three months after the first tests proved Kmart is selling CDs with pornographic lyrics to minors, the retailer is still failing to prevent the transactions. In light of this, AFA continues to promote a boycott of the chain.

As a result, parents and organizations around the country are beginning to strongly suggest that the company stop selling CDs with such lyrics. Officials at a Christian high school in Tennessee, for example, have chosen not to promote a Kmart school spirit program.

“A number of schools and parents have called about the School Spirit Card, and several Christian schools are backing out of the program, or seriously reconsidering participation,” said AFA Special Projects Director Randy Sharp. “I find it ironic that Kmart purports to champion the cause of children’s education with the School Spirit Card program, yet doesn’t mind selling music to ten-year-old children that advocates killing parents with chain saws.”

Kmart has been issuing letters to parents through schools promoting its School Spirit program, in which the retailer says it will donate money to the school when patrons use a special swipe card when making purchases.

In the Tennessee case, officials at Trinity Christian Academy in Jackson sent a letter to parents citing AFA’s boycott as a reason the school is backing away from Kmart’s School Spirit program.

And, despite the undeniable proof AFA has published regarding the purchases, Kmart continues to sell the CDs to minors. For example, in October:
  • In Memphis, Tennessee, a Kmart clerk sold a 13-year-old girl the CD “Gorillaz,” which was clearly marked with the parental advisory label. According to affiliate president Katherine McCulley, when her daughter, not accompanied by an adult, presented the CD, the cashier looked the CD over and said, “I didn’t know we had these. I’ll have to get me one.” She scanned the CD, but the register would not accept it until the cashier typed something in, assuming this would be to override the restrictions. The purchase was rung up, and the teen paid for it. She was never asked her age, nor did the cashier hesitate in any way to sell this to her.


  • A Kmart clerk in Pennsylvania bypassed a register warning to sell a minor an obscene CD. Diane Gramley, President of AFA of Northwest Pennsylvania, said her son was able to purchase a CD by the group Adema.


    • “[My son] went to the front and had no problem whatsoever purchasing the CD,” Gramley said.

  • Jim Hill, AFA of Oregon president, said an 11-year-old boy in Tualatin, Oregon, ran into no interference when he went to purchase a CD by controversial rapper Snoop Dog. Tualatin is a suburb of Portland.
AFA is leading a boycott of Kmart stores as the retailer has refused repeated requests to stop selling CDs with pornographic and violent lyrics. This is the second time Kmart has chosen to sell products that aren’t family-friendly. In the 1990s, AFA led a successful campaign against Kmart for selling pornographic magazines through its former subsidiaries Waldenbooks and Borders. After the retailer sold off its interests in those two chains, then-President and CEO Floyd Hall assured AFA Kmart would not return to its anti-family practices.

AFA President Donald E. Wildmon is asking concerned supporters to:

  • Call Kmart’s customer care desk (1-866-562-7848) and politely express support for the boycott.

  • Call your local Kmart and give the manager the same message.

  • E-mail Kmart Chairman Julian Day at jday@kmart.com



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