Radio Campaign Knocks Anti-Boy Products Out of 3,000 Retail Stores

January 30, 2004

Claire's, a jewelry and accessories retailer with stores in nearly a dozen countries, disclosed yesterday that it has decided to drop all products bearing anti-boy slogans such as "Boys are Stupid" from its product line.

The action is the result of a radio campaign begun six weeks ago by Los Angeles-based radio talk show host Glenn Sacks. To date, action by show listeners and supporters has knocked the products out of nearly 3,000 retail outlets--an estimated three-quarters of all retail outlets which sell the merchandise.

Sacks, whose radio show and newspaper columns focus on men's and fathers' issues, declared a campaign against Claire's during his Sunday, January 18 broadcast. Claire's sells hats, wallets, wristbands, socks and other products which say "Boys are Stupid--Throw Rocks at Them" and "Stupid Factory--Where Boys Are Made." In the days following the broadcast Claire's was bombarded with several hundred e-mails and phone calls from angry show listeners.

Yesterday Marisa Jacobs, Claire's Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, informed the controversial host that Claire’s is canceling all pending orders of products which carry slogans such as ”Boys are Stupid” and “Boys are Smelly”, and will no longer  purchase or sell products which carry those slogans. Katie Michaels, Claire's Director of Consumer Affairs, pledged that in the future the company would "act with a heightened sensitivity" on the issue. The products are made by David & Goliath, and until recently were sold at 3,500 retail outlets worldwide.

Sacks commended Claire's for its decision, noting "some in our society have developed a moral blind spot over hostility towards males. These aren't bad people, and usually all that's needed is to point out the blind spot. Claire's did the right thing, just as I expected them to."

Many organizations and websites dealing with men's and fathers issues also supported the radio campaign, including: Stop Abuse for Everyone (SAFE); the Separated Parenting Access & Resource Center (SPARC); the National Coalition of Free Men Los Angeles; Equal Parenting of Canada; MensNewsDaily.com; IFeminists.net; and MensActivism.org.

Claire's is the fourth company to be targeted. Universal Studios, Tilly's, which has 32 locations in Southern California, and Bon Macy's, a large Northwestern department store, all agreed to remove the T-shirts  when targeted by Sacks in previous broadcasts.

Sacks told his listeners that he decided to launch the campaign after his son, who is in the 6th grade, saw the shirts,  and sadly said "dad, why are they always saying stuff like that about boys?" He noted:

"David and Goliath [the company that makes the 'Boys are Stupid' products] says the shirts are a harmless joke. Well, whatever humor there is here--and I’m sorry to sound like a humorless zealot but I just don’t see--this is adult humor being played out on boys. These shirts target boys, not men--boys."

Several of Sacks' fellow Los Angeles-based talk show hosts commended the campaign. KABC's Al Rantel told his listeners that the shirts are "part of a much larger problem in our society--the problem of devaluing males." Marc Germain (aka Mr. KABC), who has a young son, told listeners "[The shirts] are really offensive and I'm glad Glenn stood up and did something about it."

Fox News columnist Wendy McElroy also praised the protest campaign, calling it "[a good example] of how hate mongering is a lucrative business and the best remedy is to yank away the financial incentive."

Sacks also linked his campaign to a "boy crisis in education," noting:

"Today boys have fallen seriously behind girls at all K-12 levels. Girls get better grades than boys and boys are far more likely than girls to drop out of school or to be disciplined, suspended, held back, or expelled. Boys are four times as likely to receive a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as girls, and the vast majority of learning-disabled students are boys. Listeners have told me that "Boys Are Stupid" are being worn on school campuses. That's rubbing salt in the wound."

Sacks says he has already chosen his next target in the campaign and will announce it on his next broadcast. Sacks show is heard at 9 pm Sunday evenings on KMPC 1540 AM in Los Angeles and on KKOL 1300 AM in Seattle.