© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Under pressure from boycott campaigns, Abercrombie & Fitch stores have stopped selling a controversial catalogue described by family advocacy groups as pornographic.

Maryam Kubasek, spokeswoman for the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, sees the retailer's move as significant but says her group will continue its campaign.

Abercrombie & Fitch catalogs have taken on a new look since this 1940 edition

"It is a victory; they are obviously sensitive to public pressure, but they are definitely not off the hook," she told WorldNetDaily, noting the "magalog" is still sold via subscription, and the company's blatant promotion of promiscuity continues.

"They haven't issued a statement saying this is bad marketing," she said.

Kubasek noted, for example, the company still issues shopping bags with pictures of "half-naked" women that can be turned into posters.

Along with sexually explicit images, the company's "Christmas Field Guide" tells young people "there are no sexual boundaries and no consequences to any sexual behavior," noted Kubasek

Founded in 1892, the company operates 641 stores in the U.S., including Abercrombie Kids and Hollister Co., which it introduced in 2000.

The catalog began its racy approach to marketing in 1998. An order by the Michigan attorney general in 1999 – citing a state law barring disseminating, exhibiting and displaying sexual explicit matter to minors – forced Abercrombie to limit its sale to people 18 and over and require ID.

'Supersafe alternative'

This year's issue, the slipcover says, offers "280 Pages of Moose, Ice Hockey, Chivalry, Group Sex & More … ."

One article says "a pleasant and supersafe alternative to [group sex] is group masturbation – sometimes called a circle jerk or Jack-and-Jill-Off."

Mark Millar, a comic book writer shares this thought: "My idea is you have the Old Testament, the New Testament, and this is the Final Testament. This is a thing about Jesus coming back as a 12-year-old kid … pontificating whether or not he should masturbate … ."

In another interview, Sari Locker, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Sex," says: "College is the time when you have the greatest opportunity to have sex [and] the highest number of potential sexual partners … ."

This year's issue also includes a "sexpertise" column that says kids going to college "shouldn't be looking for someone to marry." Rather they should be "focused on getting experience."

The "sexpert" employed by Abercrombie offers advice on "sex for three" and tells readers willing to "go down" on a date at the movies it's OK, "just so long as you do not disturb those around you."

A comparison column advises men on the benefits of sleeping with young school girls as opposed to older women, comparing the "fruits" of biting into "fresh apple right off the tree" versus the "store-bought variety that sit on the shelf wrinkled and bruised from the handling."

300 calls per hour

Abercrombie has not responded to calls for official comment, but an employee spoke to a columnist writing for National Review and confirmed the company pulled the Christmas issue of the catalogue from stores at the beginning of Thanksgiving week.

Abercrombie had received more than 300 calls per hour from people declaring they would boycott the store until it stopped selling the quarterly, the employee told writer Ann Morse.

When asked who was behind the boycott, the employee said, "Ever hear of Dr. Dobson?"

James Dobson of Colorado-based Focus on the Family addressed the issue on his daily radio program and joined with Kubasek's National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families and others.

Multi-issue offender

Abercrombie has caught criticism from other issue groups.

In 1998, an article in the catalogue titled "Drinking 101" included alcohol recipes, raising the ire of MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which noted the company's target audience includes kids below the legal drinking age. Abercrombie promised to remove the article from future reprintings of the issue.

T-shirts sold by Abercrombie & Fitch

Last year, Asian groups boycotted the company for a new line of T-shirts depicting racial stereotypes.

One shirt read: "Wong Brothers Laundry Service – Two Wongs Can Make It White" and showed two smiling men with slanted eyes wearing conical hats.

Abercrombie said it thought the shirts were funny but pulled them from its stores.

"We personally thought Asians would love this T-shirt," said spokesman Hampton Carney.

"We're very, very, very sorry," Carney said. "It's never been our intention to offend anyone."