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SI Readers Cancel Subscriptions En Masse Over 'Ghetto' Swimsuit Issue

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Deeper_Background, Feb 27, 2007.

  1. Deeper_Background

    Deeper_Background Active Member

    Outraged Sports Illustrated readers are flooding the SI offices with angry phone calls and emails demanding subscription cancellations. The furor erupted after Sports Illustrated's celebrated annual "Swimsuit Issue" hit the stands with Beyonce on the cover and an inside shot of a smug Kanye West gripping a models derriere.

    Angry comments have been posted as well as other blogs and message boards. "Is this the Swimsuit Issue or the Ghetto issue?" read one post. A source inside the SI mail room emailed me to say longtime subscribers are angry. "The calls are nonstop," she wrote. "Some of these guys have been subscribing to Sports Illustrated for years just so they can get the Swimsuit Issue before it hits the stands. This is like blasphemy to most of them who don't know who Beyonce or Kanye are."

    A local newspaper reporter who asked not to be identified said, "So many women grew up identifying with the models in the Swimsuit Issue. They don't see themselves in Beyonce. SI has made a mockery of their core demographic with this issue."

    So far, SI hasn't commented publicly on the complaints. But insiders say SI is discreetly emailing members of the mainstream media emphasizing the point that the Swimsuit Issue is a "Music Issue". But critics are asking how can it be both? "They should make up their minds," wrote one angry poster on a sports-related board. "Either it's the Swimsuit Issue or the Rap Issue. SI can cancel my subscription!" http://gossip.commongate.com/post/Sports_Illustrated_readers_CANCEL_Beyonce_Knowles_Ghetto_Issue_subscriptions
     
  2. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    I call bullshit. Why would a bunch of under-25 guys wanting to ogle scantily clad women be outraged over Beyonce in a bikini and Kanye West? Why would the over-25 guys who are ogling care, either? Prurience trumps bigotry, I would think.
     
  3. Not always.
     
  4. Deeper_Background

    Deeper_Background Active Member

    Top supermodels have always been on the cover of the SI swimsuit issue, always. With Beyonce on the cover it's just another issue of Maxim, Stuff or FHM. (where she's just pimping her next project)
     
  5. Clever username

    Clever username Active Member

    Kanye isn't grabbing her ass, he's got his hand over her hip, creeping in on the vagina.
     
  6. alleyallen

    alleyallen Guest

    I call B.S. as well. First of all, an inside source in the mail room? Talk about bottom of the barrel. Second, readers are complaining because they don't know who Beyonce is? Sorry, that's stretching the bounds of credibility there, D_B.

    If nothing else, I look forward to your posts because it's so enjoyable watching other members blast you.
     
  7. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    So most people know who those models from Russia and Chile and Yugoslavia are but not who Beyonce is? OK.
     
  8. alleyallen

    alleyallen Guest

    What's your point on this? Did anyone say models aren't used?
     
  9. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    FB, I don't think I would cancel my subscription (if I had one) even if Cal Thomas was grabbing a women's butt.
     
  10. Oz

    Oz Well-Known Member

    I find this very hard to believe. Did that many women more really identify with Cindy Crawford? Elle McPherson? Kathy Ireland? Tyra Banks?
     
  11. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    The core demographic identifies with T and A. End of story.
     
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