After An Online Petition, This "Lads Magazine" Will No Longer Be On Some Supermarket Shelves

Zoo Weekly will no longer be stocked in Coles supermarkets following a successful campaign led by Collective Shout.

Coles will no longer stock the "lads mag" Zoo Weekly after a petition was started labeling the publication "misogynistic, all-ages porn".

Zoo Weekly

Starting up the #binzoomag hashtag, the movement was started by Collective Shout, the same organisation that recently led a campaign which resulted in the cancellation of rapper Tyler, The Creator's Australian tour.

The #binzoomag petition has reached almost 40,000 signatures, and has recently been changed to target another Australian supermarket, Woolworths.

Speaking on behalf of Collective Shout, Melinda Liszewski told BuzzFeed News the organisation was inspired by a similar campaign that recently took off in the UK.

losetheladsmags.org.uk

"This [UK] campaign was initiated by feminist groups UK Feminista and Object," she said. "They argued that the display and sale of ‘lads mags’ normalises the treatment of women as sexual objects and that portraying women in this way fuels sexist behaviours and attitudes that underpin violence against women."

"In Australia, Collective Shout had been following Zoo Weekly’s activities on social media and the way they are sold and displayed in supermarkets for a number of years. Many people have made complaints directly to supermarkets but have always been knocked back with the same copied and pasted responses."

Liszewski said the petition was started by Laura Pintur, a 23-year-old Collective Shout supporter from Melbourne.

change.org

Whilst the movement did gain momentum, Liszewski expressed frustration that the issue hadn't been addressed properly by the supermarkets sooner. It wasn't until an employee of Coles raised the issue that they responded.

"Inspired by the thousands of signatures on the petition, Coles employee Shannen decided to lodge an official complaint to Coles. As a result, Coles has advised her that the magazine will be discontinued. Coles has publicly claimed that this is a ‘commercial decision’ and has refused to admit that it is a response to the petition and employee complaint."

"Coles has made a great decision and we encourage them to own it and celebrate with us."

After the success of the Coles petition, Liszewski says the group is now focusing their attention on Woolworths.

Zoo Weekly

"We have now turned our attention to Woolworths, the other target of the petition. They issued a statement yesterday saying they had no plans to discontinue the mag."

"We are calling on them to rethink this decision and ask how selling an all-ages porn mag that promotes sexist attitudes towards women could possibly line up with their corporate philosophy of ‘doing the right thing.'"

Liszewski says "Woolworths has a great opportunity before them to take a stand against sexism and the sexual exploitation of women and girls."

"They should pull the mag from shelves immediately."

BuzzFeed News has reached out to Zoo Weekly for comment on this story.