UK Protest Alert: London Tesco Supermarket: June 10 2005, 10:00 AM

MANN administrators received the following:

Dear men and women,

Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket, has chosen to deploy male-bashing
imagery on the cover of its (free) Tesco Magazine May/June, 2005 edition; A woman is pushing a man backwards off a pier in an act of
unprovoked relational and physical aggression. The female model is smiling
in a righteous manner, whilst the male model is smiling in an embarrassed,
face-saving manner.

To see the cover of the magazine, click here.

click "Read more..." for more.
Tesco magazine is full of adverts for junk food and diets. Carte D'or
icecream is advertised on one page; a company which has previously used
male-bashing in a long-running tv ad campaign. On another page, an advert
for 'W.I.T.C.H. Magazine' features, targeting young girls - enough said!

Tesco has chosen, on balance, to dismiss my complaint out of hand, which
leaves me with only one other option...

... to strategically picket a Tesco store where an alternative competitor's
store lies within close walking distance!
So, even my one-person-picket will inflict serious damage on Tesco's takings
for the day(s)!!!

My placard will read... TESCO ATTACKS MEN -TO MARKET JUNK FOOD AND DIETS, TO
WOMEN -PLEASE SHOP ELSEWHERE; and on the other side... PICKET TESCO
MARGINALS AND SEND A MESSAGE TO ALL MALE-BASHING ADVERTISERS- ask me how!

I will politely ask pedestrians to consider shopping elsewhere AND ask them
to sign my petition, calling for Tesco to withdraw the magazine and issue a
sincere apology to them and ALL its customers.

I will not intimidate anyone, or cause a nuissance or an obstruction. I will
inform the police of my plans, and ensure not to allow a crowd of more than
20 to gather, as further prior permission would then be required. If
passers-by wish to join in, they are welcome. If it gets too crowded, I'll
direct them to the other 'vulnerable' Tesco stores in the area.

Tesco say they have informed the police too, but as long as we stay within
the law, no-one need be arrested.

I will carry out my initial action at the Tesco Express on Tottenham Court
Road, Central London (just north of the Centrepoint building and just
opposite a Sainsburys!) at 10 am on Friday 10th June, 2005. Please come
along and bring placard materials with you- The weather forecast is good!

To get hold of the offending magazine, either go to one of the larger Tesco
stores, or phone its publisher, who'll send you as many free copies as you
like, though don't tell them its for a campaign of direct action against
them! Phone: 0207 534 2400.

If any journos show up on the day(s), have a short and simple message ready
for them, i.e. "Male-bashing advertising perpetuates cycles of aggression
and violence"... OR "When a product resorts to a male-bashing advertising
campaign, I can be certain better quality and value lies elsewhere"...
OR

"We won't let Tesco push ANYONE around" OR... "Britain needs a Minister for
Men to tackle the media misandry epidemic."

There are more violent male-bashing images around than this one, but I
target Tesco in order to send the warning to advertisers, that NO level of
misandry will be left unchallenged.

If a few people tell a few more, this thing could really mushroom. Tell a
friend!

Please, do not hesitate to contact me for any advise or encouragement you
might need to get you started.

Tom Martin

0775 44 10 350

E-mail: tcmartin1-at-hotmail.com

P.S. Don't forget to take lots of digital stills on the day(s) to send to
men's sites, newspapers and the like. Just because the next Tesco Magazine
issue will be out at the beginning of July DOESN'T mean we can't continue
protesting all summer long, as such an insidious campaign as Tesco's truly
deserves to be made an example of. This IS the big one.

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