Complaint to Reader's Digest

Submitted to Reader's Digest 3/30/08 via website:

Hi! I am a longtime subscriber to Reader's Digest and have long enjoyed the illustrations on the back cover. My four children ages 5-13 have especially preferred the latest illustrator.

I was annoyed to see that the illustrations have disappeared and have been replaced by advertising. However, I can understand that the back cover is a lucrative spot for selling advertising.

The April 2008 issue arrived with an advertisement for Dove products. The photograph in the advertisement was of a young woman from the waist up clad only in her bra. I find this extremely objectionable. Two of my children are boys and I try to shield them from gratuitous displays of immodesty - not an easy task in this day and age. My two daughters are being raised to dress modestly - again, not a goal that many aspire to, if one looks at the fashions available even for my five-year-old.

I have always looked at Reader's Digest as a family magazine. I remember reading it as a child and learning a lot and being entertained. I find that I am very bothered by this unnecessary nudity on the very visible back cover of your magazine. Although much of the United States and Western civilization finds a photo of a woman in lingerie normal, it is inappropriate. I hope that Reader's Digest will choose more appropriate advertisements in the future.

(If you agree with me, I encourage you also to let your opinion be known.)

I also complained to Dove by filling out a form on this page.

EDITED to add - I just looked at my January 2008 issue of the magazine which also has an ad for Dove products on the back. However, the model in this ad is nude and hugging her knees in such a way that her private areas are not viewable, but a whole lot of skin sure is. Now I remember thinking about the inappropriateness of this ad on the back cover when it arrived, but my kids must not have seen it as they did the April issue.