This is a guest blog by Sara Spary.

Last week, the issue of displaying lads’ mags was propelled into the spotlight with The Co-op’s announcement it had set a 9 September deadline for publishers to either deliver the magazines in sealed bags, or face delisting.

Unsurprisingly, magazine publishers did not exactly greet the announcement with open arms. Not just because they have been battling declining sales across the category since 2005, but also because, according to them, they were not even given a heads-up by The Co-op before it announced the move to the media – which is not, as Nuts publisher IPC media said, how they prefer to do business.

The news was met coolly, too, by a host of retailers and suppliers. Most were reluctant to say little more than that they already adhere to voluntary guidelines on the display of lads’ mags. Some went so far as to dismiss The Co-op’s move as a PR stunt and even suggest it was an attempt to deflect attention away from its struggling banking arm.

The Co-op’s announcement didn’t seem in danger of mobilising the industry to action – until Tesco popped up on Friday and announced it was banning the sale of lads’ mags to under 18s. The retailer has agreed a ‘modesty deal’ with the publishers of Nuts, Zoo and Front and has persuaded the publisher of Bizarre to deliver the magazine in sealed bags.

Tesco said its plans had been in motion long before The Co-op’s announcement last week – suggesting The Co-op may have stolen a march on its bigger rival. On the other hand, by actually talking to the publishers, Tesco seems to have made more headway: faced with the prospect of upsetting the country’s biggest retailer, Nuts, Zoo and Front have all agreed to tone down their front covers to make them less raunchy – even conceding that cover girls should wear bikinis from now on.

UK Feminista, which has been campaigning Tesco to stop selling lads’ mags, declared itself less than impressed. Dismissing the deal as a “half measure”, the group said it does little more than highlight that lads’ mags are in fact nothing more than adult magazines – which Tesco has an existing policy not to sell.

But while the likes of UK Feminista see Tesco’s move into the territory as more of a dip to test the water, rather than a plunge, the announcement is likely to make other retailers take stock of their own policy on lads’ mags. And as UK Feminista ramps up campaigning activity over August, with a series of protests outside stores, that pressure is only likely to increase.

Sara Spary

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