Woolworths, Sainsbury remove Springer DVD
The Independent reports that a “tiny fringe Christian group” has persuaded Woolworths and Sainsbury to remove the DVD of Jerry Springer: the Opera from their shelves.
It seems likely that it was the Christian jihad group Christian Voice, led by the charity-blackmailing Stephen “Tiny Fringe” Green, who did the persuading.
Sainsbury admitted that it had received only ten complaints. The links to the stores above lead directly to their customer feedback pages.
UPDATE: Woolworths have been sending out identical responses to anti-censorship complaints:
Woolworths is not a censor and does not wish to act as one. Like any other retailer, it is guided by government legislation with regard to film certification.
However, we also listen to our customers and their feedback. On this occasion we have received numerous complaints and it is clear to us that our customers would prefer us not to stock this product.
As a result it has been removed from sale.
UPDATE: Manic at bloggerheads has taken up the baton on the Sainsbury/Woolies boycott, and suggest a possible way forward for both stores.
UPDATE: Sainsbury have sent out a stock response to everyone:
Thank you for contacting us. I am concerned to hear you are unhappy with our decision to no longer sell Jerry Springer, the Opera DVD’s in our stores. I can understand how disappointed you must feel and I hope you will accept my sincere apologies.
Our entertainment range is particularly important at Christmas and we take many factors into consideration when deciding which titles to stock. Ultimately, the most important factor is what our customers want. In response to some to some of the feedback we have received, we have decided not to sell the Jerry Springer DVD’s this Christmas.
I have passed your comments onto our marketing department. I would like to assure you they have taken your comments seriously and will bear them in mind for the future.
Once again thank you for contacting us. I hope that despite your disappointment you will continue to shop at Sainsbury’s in the future. May I take this opportunity to wish you merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
This would suggest that their ban covers only the Christmas period. We’ll see.
UPDATE: (9/10) Sainsbury’s latest response suggests that the JS:TO DVD wasn’t selling well, and was about to be withdrawn from the shelves anyway:
Thank you for contacting us. I am sorry you have been disappointed by our decision to withdraw Jerry Springer – The Opera from sale in our stores. As there has been lots of interest in this matter I would like to clarify why the title was taken out of our range.
We sell many DVD titles throughout the year and our range changes from week to week based on what customers want and, of course, sales. In the first week that Jerry Springer – The Opera was released, we sold only 111 copies in all stores nationwide and received a high number of contacts from unhappy customers. In the early part of the second week we sold only 21 more copies and received further complaints. Due to these very poor sales figures this DVD would have been withdrawn at the end of the week, but in view of the contacts we had received we removed it a few days earlier than planned.
Please be assured that, as a company, we feel it is our responsibility to offer choice. We do not feel it is right for us to tell our customers what they should or should not buy. However, in this case sales were so low that we did not think removing this title would have a negative impact on our customers and we wanted to give them a choice of more popular titles.
Thank you for taking the time to let us know your views on this matter and for giving us a chance to explain the reasons behind our decision.
Kind regards, Gavin Wood
Absolutely ridiculous. I’ve left raging comments on both stores’ feedback sections.
As have I. I certainly won’t be doing any shopping at those stores any time soon.
Comments to feedback sites is one way of fighting this, but bear in mind they’re staffed by folk who are paid to sit there all day and take flack from whingeing customers anyway.
A simple but more effective tactic is a letter to your local paper – however parochial their style. Once a few local store managers start reporting back to head office about negative publicity at regional level they’ll soon think again.
It would not surprise me if it was Christian Voice behind this. Not content with trying to dictate what we see on our TV sets Stephen Green probably wants to dictate what we see on our DVD players as well.
I certainly won’t be shopping at Woolies or Sainsbury anymore, and won’t be shopping at any other store which caves into relegious bullies.
On the rare occasions we have to do supermarket shops (I’m in an area which still has retail character – lots of ethnic shops and a large wholefood store), we tend to alternate between Tesco and Sainsbury. So, Tesco it is from now on…
I’ve left a comment at each one, and I’ve also put a link to this story (both to the Indie and to Mediawatchwatch) on the Secular Wales, Secular Newsline and GALHA discussion lists. I wonder what Sainsbury’s will do if they get a hundred complaints in favour of having the DVD on their shelves against only the ten who have complained against the DVD. If anyone here has contact with lists and blogs where people might be encouraged to leave feedback or write a letter, we can do a real viral job and flood the bastards. Bastards. Bastards. Bastards.
Just after I left my last comment, I remembered that Sainsbury had been involved with loony fundies back in the 80s. The family that owns the chain had, at that time, some religiously insane members and they gave a load of money to a convicted fraudster to help his escape from an elite Sataic cult. I wrote it up in the Prattle.
I’ve protested to them both too, of course.
—
Eric
Thanks for the links. I’ve just complained to Asda about ‘pastors’ in their stores too. (There won’t be any left soon because I also complained to Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsburys about non labelling of halal meat!).
[…] MediaWatchWatch has identifed the “tiny fringe Christian group” as being Stephen Green’s charity-blackmailing Christian Voice and has helpfully linked to the customer feedaback pages for both Woolworths and Sainsburys so you can let them know what you think of their deciding what sell you on the basis of a tiny bunch of self-appointed censors. Posted by Paul in UK (December 4, 2005 at 5:08 pm) […]
i have let my concerns be known
Spineless fools. Feedback left for both Sainsburys and Woolies. I’ve already had the automated “we are dealing with your enquiry” emails – I wonder if there will be any official response?
Stephen Green is frothing at the mouth again
Media Watch Watch – Woolworths, Sainsbury remove Springer DVD Independent – Stores bow to Christians and ban Jerry Springer DVD: Major retail chains have bowed to pressure from a tiny fringe Christian group by withdrawing copies of a DVD of…
Woolworths will get nothing from us this Christmas. Ditto for Sainsburys. We’re taking our money elsewhere.
I’ve emailed both, but included a question as to just how many complaints it would take to have “Harry Potter” books/merchandising taken off their shelves, given that many supernaturalists find that stuff deeply offensive too…
Hmm, now let’s see, which product line would generate more sales/profit? Well, durrr..something tells me it was no great loss to them to remove JS:TO…
Smacks of pathetic lip-service in the pursuit of supernaturalist customers to me!
BTW if anyone needs further proof of Green’s utter lack of basic f*cking human decency, check out http://www.christianvoice.org.uk/Press/press010.html – “PURITY COMES TO NEW ORLEANS”: “The theme of cleansing or purification has become a frequently discussed topic as the tragedy in the affected states unfolds. Most would say a hurricane is an ‘Act of God’. Hurricanes are named by a system of rotating boy/girl/boy/girl names after the letters of the alphabet. By one of those co-incidences which only Almighty God can manufacture, the name ‘Katrina’ means ‘purity’.”
Cunt.
I had a reply from Woolies.
Heh. That’s *exactly* like mine… and I spent all that time writing an original letter of complaint. Tch!
I’m pressing them on the matter.
Interestingly, the soundtrack album is still available. http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/product/index.jhtml?pid=30052340
I had the same reply Andrew. I just hope that Woolworths log comments for and against Jerry Springer more accurately than the BBC did.
Hmm. I had the same response, and so did someone on the GALHA list. OK, what is below is not the best letter in the world. It’s colloquial and I need a drink, but here it is (perhaps its being a bit colloquial reflects my anger):
Just a correction, the item on the Woolies website is actually an audio CD, not the DVD.
[…] Via MediaWatchWatch comes the news from The Independent that Woolworths and Sainsbury’s have withdrawn from sale our old friend Jerry Springer: The Opera on DVD due to "customer concerns". Sainsbury has admitted it received just 10 complaints. […]
It currently says ‘This product is not currently available. Please check back later’ on the Woolies site.
Thanks guys. I’ve removed the link now.
“This product is not currently available. Please check back later.”
That’s a recent change. It appears to have been updated within the last hour.
Putting the fundament in fundamentalism
Well, consider my goat well and truly got. Sainsburys and Woolworths have withdrawn Jerry Springer: The Opera on DVD from sale after complaints from a “a tiny fringe Christian group”. (via Bloggerheads). MediaWatchWatch are pointing the finger at eve…
Woolworths claim that the number of complaints they have received is ‘confidential’ information, and they refuse to discuss the matter further. In fact, they were so rude about it, I’ve now extended my shopping boycott by a month.
Sainsburys have yet to reply.
I’ve mentioned this over on Chicken Yoghurt, but worth pointing out here – the most effective way to deal with this sort of thing might be to simply buy some shares in the respective companies and threaten to raise merry Andrew at the next shareholders’ meeting about the alacrity with which they’re apparently willing to cave in to fundamentalist thugs.
I believe it’s the fear of protests and the resultant negative publicity that motivates them more than the lack of sales. We need a few brave souls to go into their local branches and tell the managers their decision in person.
Has anyone had a reply from Sainsburys yet?
Sainsbury’s must be reading this, I’ve just had my reply!
http://www.pledgebank.com/JerrySpringer
let’s get active
1. Dean, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.
2. Folks, take a closer look at what Sainbury’s have said there:
“…we have decided not to sell the Jerry Springer DVD’s this *Christmas*.”
This pretty much confirms it for me… Woolworths and Sainsbury’s caved quickly because they feared ‘Christian’ pickets during Christmas.
[…] Everyone else is doing it, why can’t I? […]
On the basis that they’ll be looking to recoup their losses at the January sales, like many retailers at what is going to be a bad Xmas for high street stores, maybe we should remember to go elsewhere for January sales too.
Also – on Sainsbury’s comment – if they’re thinking of sneaking the DVD in after Xmas to avoid Christian fury, be interesting to see if they withdraw it again at Easter!
I received a reply, the substantive part of which was:
“Please let me assure you that we would never wish to cause offence to any of our customers. As a retailer, we feel we should offer our customers a choice of what to buy. We monitor all feedback about the products on sale in our stores and I can confirm that we are no longer selling Jerry Springer, The Opera.”
Methinks there may be some inconsistency between the second and third sentences!
I’ve sent back quite a snotty reply to Woolworths about the inadequacy of their reply. Maybe we at MWW should organise a protest outside a Woolworths store? Match fire with fire?
I too have contacted both stores and got the standard replies. Woolie staff e-mails are the standard .@woolworths.co.uk. If replying back to the standard letter it’s probably a good idea to cc it to the name at the bottom as well as the standard customer service address
I just pointed out to them that Directors are required to act in the interests of Shareholders, not Religious Fanatics.
Incidentally, try visiting the Christian Voice website: Gay-bashing, Catholic-bashing – not the sort of people Woolworths and Sainsbury’s would be advised to side too closely with??
Possibly the best way to demonstrate disaproval is for people to put their money where their mouth is and to go buy the DVD from Tescos (or one of the high street branches which is stocking it)!
Sorry about the cross posting guys, but I’ve never really got into this Blogging thing. Over on a couple of the other blogs I suggested that we email all the remaining stores that are still selling the DVD and tell them how pleased we are with our purchase of the DVD and that we remain loyal customers.
If they have hundreds of letters and emails of praise, then it would be far harder for Stephen Green’s dozen of so complaints to have any effect on our liberties to buy a DVD.
Now to go and learn about how Blogs work. !@?!*!
They can ignore e-mails. So jam their customer services lines. The numbers are:
Woolworths: 020 7262 1222
Sainsburies: 0800 636262
Shall we say 3pm today?
This really sucks. But I wonder if it is all that it seems? Call me a conspiracy theorist if you like, but were the Christian fundamentalists really behind it? Could it be that this is really just a subtle ploy by the DVD’s publishers? I can’t help thinking that this episode will double overall sales for the DVD, even if it won’t do much for them at Sainsburys or Woollies.
Go to http://www.yell.com – find your local Woolworths and Sainsburys. Ring up and ask to speak to the manager.
*Politely* explain that you won’t be shopping there until this ban is publically reversed.
Ring your local newspaper and ask them to publish a story on the situation.
Incidentally – you can still buy the DVD from Sainsbury’s Online
http://www.sainsburysentertainyou.co.uk/mall/sainsburys/main.cfm?productid=0711926298
Thought you might be interested in my little protest on Pledgebank. If 10-20 letters can prompt Sainsburys to remove Jerry Springer from sale then why can’t 10-20 letters get Disney DVDs removed from sale ?
I’m sure there must be 10-20 people in the country who think Disney is offensive.
Pledgebank seems to be a focalpoint for this – I created an entry at lunchtime and just over an hour later the target was met and has continued up to 18 people so far.
http://www.pledgebank.com/dvd-boycott
The above idea is fine, only I would suggest ensuring Jim Davidson’s latest DVD isn’t on sale. Misogynist, racist, homophobic all good reasons to have his product binned. Oh and sprouts, I hate sprouts, if only 9 folk join me Sainsbury’s should be pulling sprouts from their shelves nationwide.
Sainsburys have a Freephone number you can call: 0800 636 262. If enough people ring then their action will have financial repercussions and that’s the sort of thing they understand best – CJ.
I’ve left some feedback with Sainsburys. This is outrageous.
I have no problem with religious nutters as long as they keep themselves to themselves.
It’s when they start telling the rest of us what to do that it gets worrying.
We’ve only just left the dark ages, and in many parts of the world, they’ve never left it. Let’s not go back.