- TORONTO -- The split-run magazine war is getting seamier -- and more
personal.
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- The Canadian edition of hardcore porn
magazine Hustler pillories federal Heritage Minister Sheila Copps in its
newest issue by making her the subject of an obscene contest.
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- The magazine offers a free one-year subscription
for a winner who can successfully match Copps to one of a series of graphic
photographs of female genitalia. Readers are also invited to pen an essay
about why they'd like to have sex with Copps.
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- Some stores in Ontario yanked the edition
off their shelves Monday after readers allegedly complained. About 620
Becker's, Macs and Mike's convenience stores in Ontario were given the
order to pull the magazine Friday by company owner Silcorp Ltd.
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- Copps, labelled by Hustler as "a
Prime Minister wannabe," is on vacation. But her spokesman, Jacques
Lefebvre, called the lewd notice "absolute filth." He also denied
suggestions that the complaints came from Copps' office and not Hustler
readers. "This was done by citizens who were appalled by it,"
he said. "We didn't intervene in any way. We wouldn't have wanted
to draw attention to it."
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- It's curious, however, that the average
Hustler reader would find the Copps parody offensive -- it pales in comparison
to other lurid features in the February issue such as The Soapy Love of
a Girl and Her Enema and a collection of scatological cartoons.
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- "It's ludicrous that anyone who
buys that magazine in the first place could be offended by the Sheila Copps
contest," said one 28-year-old Hustler reader from Toronto who didn't
want his name published. "It's Hustler magazine, for God's sake --
what did they think was going to be in it?"
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- Mike Rousseau, chief financial officer
of Silcorp, was reluctant to discuss the company's decision to remove the
magazine from its store shelves. But he bristled at the suggestion that
the complaints didn't come from actual Hustler readers. "A lot of
them called up. We're not here to censor the magazine, all we're doing
is reacting to consumer concerns."
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- Rousseau, who couldn't recall any other
similar instances involving customer complaints in the past, said he didn't
know precisely how many people complained. But he said several people from
across Ontario had called the company.
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- Copps has been at the forefront of attempts
to restrict split-run editions of magazines such as Hustler.
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- In October, Copps introduced Bill C-55,
which would make it illegal for Canadian advertisers to place ads in split-run
magazines ---- Canadian editions of American publications that contain
little editorial content from Canada.
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- The Canadian version of Hustler is noted
by a small drawing of a beaver wearing a hard hat embossed with the Canadian
flag. The edition also features letters and pictorials sent in by Canadian
readers.
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- Hustler also takes aim at several high-profile
Canadians in a regular section. In the February issue, it lampoons former
Ontario premier Bob Rae and calls former solicitor general Andy Scott a
"follicularly challenged little turd."
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- Officials at the Canadian office of Hustler
magazine were unavailable for comment. Hustler's controversial publisher
Larry Flynt has never shied away from the spotlight. He placed a full-page
advertisement in the Washington Post offering $1 million US to anyone who
could prove they had sexual relations with highly visible American politicians.
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