April 29, 2000 09:00pm
Mistake Sends Porn Magazine to Wrong Homes
Source: Akron Beacon Journal
by: Phil Trexler
(ELLET, OH) -- A 15-year-old's mother from Ellet and porn magazine magnate Larry Flynt have one thing barely in common: Neither liked what came in the mail this week.
Becky Barrington, a mother of four, said she was incensed when she discovered this week that Flynt's company mailed her teen-aged son the X-rated Hustler Taboo magazine and not the skateboarding magazine she ordered for him as a gift.
``I was horrified,'' Barrington said. ``I don't want my son seeing that stuff.''
Flynt, one of America's reigning porn kings, is reportedly just as mad.
A spokesperson said Flynt has fired the guy whose mistake led to copies of Taboo - hailed as ``America's Most Twisted'' porn magazine featuring ``explicit fetish on every page'' - being mailed to all subscribers of Big Brother Skateboarding magazine.
Both magazines are published by Flynt.
``Larry was really (expletive) off that it happened. He was livid,'' said Jerry Awang, vice president of operations for Flynt's publishing house.
The Taboo delivery to Barrington's home came Wednesday, wrapped discretely in gray plastic and bearing her son's name, Justin Noga, a student at Ellet High School, on the mailing label.
Barrington opened the package believing it held the first installment of her son's subscription. Instead, she was treated to a nude and bound blonde wearing nothing above her spiked heels.
``I have never seen anything so gross,'' she said. ``Luckily, my son was out of town or otherwise I may never have known.'' [Yeah, unless she checked under the kid's mattress!! - Ed.]
LFP Inc. in Beverly Hills, Calif., publishes more than 30 adult Flynt magazines.
Big Brother is not pornographic. It does, however, contain some expletives and racy photos, along with articles and ads related to skateboarding.
Awang said letters of apology were mailed earlier this week to Big Brother subscribers. He would not say how many copies of Taboo were mailed in error because the company does not release circulation data.
``It was a screw-up, man,'' he said. ``We have every quality control plan in place. The impossible happened. I can't tell you how devastated we are.''
Barrington said the company apologized when she called to complain. However, she has not received the letter sent to other Big Brother subscribers.
``So, it was one guy's mistake? That's inexcusable. I don't see how this could happen,'' she said.
Barrington said she intends to cancel the Big Brother subscription, which she ordered before learning it was owned by Flynt.
``I don't take a stand on many issues, but (Flynt) is pretty bizarre and I don't want to make that guy any richer,'' she said.
|
