BP pulls sexualised magazines from stores

Fuel giant BP Australia has joined 7-Eleven and pulled two “M+” rated magazines from its 350 petrol outlets across the country after complaints they sexualized young girls and promoted harassment.

People and The Picture magazines, published by Bauer, will be pulled from the shelves BP has confirmed.

“M+ rated magazines will no longer be stocked at our 350 company-owned stores across Australia,” BP tweeted on Monday night.

Its decision comes after activist group Collective Shout said it alerted BP to recent covers of the Australian magazines, which frequently publish pictures of glamour models and stories with a sexual element.

Headlines on the covers included “Better Than Viagra” and featured a photograph of a young woman in pigtails with the caption “I have no gag reflex”, Collective Shout said.

Now the group has set its sights on supermarket giant Coles, which still stocks the publications.

“The display and sale of pornographic magazines in the public space creates a hostile environment for women and girls,” campaigns manager Melinda Liszewski said in a statement.

“We urge other retailers selling these magazines – such as Coles Express – to follow the example set by 7-Eleven and BP and cease the sale of ‘unrestricted’ pornographic magazines immediately.”

7-Eleven recently stopped selling the magazines in its 700 convenience stores.

Collective Shout campaigns against the objectification of women and the sexualization of girls, according to its website.