It was an Easter day at a Croydon, south London, branch of controversial billionaire businessman Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct shop. Customers who had gone there with young family members were shocked to find on its counter a magazine with explicit references to porn.
It was a cover feature in Forever Sports, headlined “Work out with a porn star”. The assistant who sold a copy for £2 to a dismayed customer was a 17-year-old schoolgirl, who was red-faced with embarrassment.
Emblazoned in huge black and red capital letters across two pages of the glossy Haymarket publication was a spoof ad titled: “Wanted. Male Porn Star.”
New American heart throb of blue movies Tyler Nixon, a surfer and snowboarder, was interviewed over a further two pages about his keep fit tips. There is a prominent pull quote in the text that says: “Losing an erection when everything else is ready is a nightmare.”
And, next to a graphics of a man’s six-pack, the headline: “Get Rock Hard Now.”
Sheila Lewis, 29, of New Addington, Surrey, told the-latest: "I bought my six year old son an Arsenal top at the shop and then went to the counter to pay for it. Now, I’m no prude but wonder whether such pornographic literature is appropriate to be peddled at a store where young people work and shop?"
As if Ashley should be courting another scandal at a time when he faces being charged with contempt of parliament for refusing to appear before a committee of MPs investigating allegations he has badly treated his workers.
The-latest attempted to get a comment from Sports Direct without success. We'll keep trying.
Thomas L. Blair is a sociologist and political blogger on the Chronicleworld 'for creative renewal in Black Britain and Afro-Europe'. His work is honoured in the British Library's archive of "social, historic and culturally significant web-based material from the UK domain". He won top prize in the blogging competition on The-Latest.
Sumantra Maitra is a freelance journalist from Mumbai, India. He is a correspondent for All Sports magazine, and a foreign affairs blogger for the Washington Examiner. He has written articles for news website Merinews.com and other regional publications. Sumantra runs a blog at DailyWorldWatch.wordpress.com. He provided exclusive eyewitness reports for The-Latest on the Mumbai bombings of 2008.
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