In a statement posted via its Twitter account, the No More Page 3 campaign confirmed a change in store policy:
AMAZING SUPPORTERS!!!!!!!!!
AMAZING NEWS AND A HUGE THANKS TO YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!
It is down to all of your incredible and relentless complaining and emailing that we can now announce -
TESCO ARE CHANGING THEIR NEWS DISPLAYS!!!
The supermarket have confirmed that they will very soon be changing the format of their 'news cubes'
Tabloid front covers will no longer be displayed vertically on the sides of the cubes. Instead, only the names and logos will be visible from the sides.
This means that not only are the tabloid covers no longer in the line of sight of small children; they will be a lot less visible from a distance to all shoppers
We want to say an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to you all and to Child Eyes and supporters for the literally 100's of emails sent that lead to the supermarket agreeing to meet to negotiate the change
More detailed information will be shared tomorrow but please know what a big victory this is for #peoplepower
Huge thx to all supporters of @ChildEyesUK & @NoMorePage3! Also thx to the amazing team @Tesco who listened to concerns regarding displays!
And many, many thanks to @Tesco for meeting with us and @ChildEyesUK and for hearing customers concerns of objectifying images :)
In a letter to then-Chief Executive Officer Philip Clarke published on the campaign's website in August, a campaigner wrote:
I am really surprised to see that The Sun, Star, Sport (and all the soft-porn images that send out the powerful message that it is acceptable to sexually objectify young women on a daily basis in this way) are still being displayed where children and families can easily see them, especially when you've had so many complaints about this already.
Continues here.
Retail sources have confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Tesco has indeed changed the way that newspapers are to be presented at the store. The supermarket is expected to issue a statement in the morning.
Lisa Clarke from No More Page 3 told BuzzFeed News:
Our supporters have been complaining in store, emailing and tweeting the supermarkets for the last two years and have grown louder and louder and more difficult to ignore. This has added to the obvious change in public mood and subsequent changes in display of lads' mags etc. The Page 3 tabloids have such similar covers and content in places that the line between these and the lads' mags was not clear to many.
For approximately four to five months supporters have emailed all supermarkets relentlessly, but Tesco was the biggest receiver it would seem from the emails we were copied into.
Clarke told BuzzFeed News that there had been "two or three" meetings since September involving campaigners from No More Page 3 and Child Eyes campaigns.
Norwich Evening News 24 reports that Tesco's Customer Experience & Insight Director Tracey Clements said:
“As a parent myself, I recognise that newspaper front pages can sometimes have images that are inappropriate for young children. At Tesco, we take our responsibilities as a family friendly retailer very seriously and it’s important that we do everythingwe can to promote the right environment in store.
"The change we’re making to our display panels in our Superstore and Extra formats will strike the right balance for everyone. For our millions of customers, choosing a newspaper will still be simple and easy, but at the same time, any inappropriate front pages will now be of out of the immediate eyesight of young children and toddlers."