TAMPA, FL — Unhappy about the sale of Penthouse and Playboy magazines at Shell-branded locations of the Circle K convenience store chain, the Florida Family Association (FFA) contacted Shell Oil Company and asked that the company require Circle K’s that use their brand to pull the magazines.Shell Oil’s response? Playboy and Penthouse aren’t porn.

David Caton, executive director of the FFA, said in a written statement that rather than pressure Shell-branded Circle K stores to drop Playboy and Penthouse, “Shell Oil Company has decided instead to change their definition of pornography, unlike all other major oil companies, to exclude Penthouse and Playboy magazines which are sold by Circle K Stores.”

“Shell Oil Company no longer considers the hardcore content of Penthouse and explicit nudity in Playboy to be pornographic,” the FFA states in its press release. “No other major oil company has taken this position. Shell Oil Company stands alone as the only major oil company to treat Penthouse and Playboy as non-pornographic materials.”

In its statement, the FFA theorizes that “Shell Oil Company’s new permissive attitude toward pornography was most likely influenced by Circle K Store’s recent purchase of two hundred forty Shell branded independent retail locations.”

In a letter to Caton, Otto O. Meyers III, General Manager of U.S. Retail Operations Support for Shell, states that the supply agreements that Motiva (a joint enterprise of Shell Oil and Saudi Refining, Inc.) has with its wholesalers “do expressly address the sale of pornographic magazines at their retail outlets.”

“In fact, Motiva recently revised this article in the wholesale supply agreement so that the acceptability of such sales are within the reasonable discretion of Motiva, as opposed to being prohibited only if they are ‘unacceptable under local community standards,’” Meyers writes.

According to Meyer’s letter, Motiva’s policy now states:

Buyer’s Outlets may not be used for any fraudulent, unlawful, offensive, hazardous, unsightly, or other objectionable purpose, including, but not limited to, the sale or display of materials with dominant themes of sex, nudity, prurient interest, or pornography, which are unacceptable to Seller in its reasonable discretion. Merchandise or paraphernalia, including, without limitation, items that may be used in connection with illegal drugs, that is morally offensive or distasteful to the general public as determined by Seller (Motiva) in its reasonable discretion may not be displayed or offered for sale at Buyer’s Outlets.

Meyers contends that Motiva changed to its current policy in part “because the reputation of the Shell brand is very important to us and we work very hard to exercise caution in how and where our brand is represented.”

“As such, we did not want the issue of what kind of adult magazines can be sold, and how they can be sold, at Shell-branded retail outlets to be subject to an ambiguous ‘local community standards’ test,” Meyers continues, adding that “the language of this article is consistent with the standard set by the majority of our competitors.”

Meyers’ following point, the assertion that appears to have simply fanned the flames of FFA’s outrage further, is that Playboy and Penthouse aren’t “pornography,” at least as that term is understood by the “general public.”

“In regard to your inquiry about specific Circle K locations, our investigation has concluded that these stores are not selling pornography as one would think the general public defines it, but rather ‘adult sophisticate’ magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse,” Meyers writes.

Meyers notes that Circle K policy dictates that all such “adult sophisticate” magazines are “maintained in wrapping, sold only from behind the counter to adult consumers with appropriate proof of age, and prohibits the reading of adult magazines on store premises.”

“Given the unobtrusive manner in which these stores are selling ‘adult sophisticates,’ we do not plan to pursue this issue further,” Meyers states.

Meyers concludes by noting that “every inquiry is reviewed on a case-by-case basis,” adding that the FFA is free to contact Shell again in the future should they “identify situations involving non-adult sophisticates.”

As one might expect, the FFA was not satisfied with Shell’s response to its complaints.

The FFA is now encouraging members and visitors to its website to send messages by email to Shell, and provides suggested text along with the contact information for several Shell executives.

The FFA’s suggested subject line for the email is “We are disappointed that Shell will allow sale of explicit materials under their signs and brand.”

“My family and I were very disappointed to learn that Shell Oil Company no longer considers the hardcore content of Penthouse and explicit nudity in Playboy to be pornographic,” states the suggested email text provided by FFA. “No other major oil company has taken this position. Shell Oil Company stands alone as the only major oil company to treat Penthouse and Playboy as non-pornographic materials.”

The suggested text continues to encourage Shell to “follow the standards and definitions established and enforced by all other major oil companies regarding the sale of pornographic materials by strictly prohibiting the sale of Playboy, Penthouse and other magazines that feature full nudity and explicit sexual conduct at all Shell branded stations including Circle K Stores.”

“Our future patronage of any Shell branded station or product may depend on the response we receive from Shell Oil Company,” concludes the FFA’s prepared email text.