Secular Marketing

Hi, my name is Clair Willis and I am the wife of Greg Willis. He is the pastor of First Southern Baptist in Muscle Shoals (Colbert County). I am writing on the behalf of my husband and my 2-year-old son.

When Greg and I discovered we were expecting our little boy back in 2011 we were so excited. I couldn’t wait to see what he would look like and I would imagine all the things we would get to do as a family.

One time Greg and I went to the mall to look for some more maternity clothes for me and that’s when I was hit with a hard truth. My son will grow up in a world where when he goes to the mall to buy shoes he will also have to face a spiritual battle of [dealing] with all the sexual images that are up everywhere for anyone at any age to view. This made me sick. I knew my husband had to deal with (that) but the thought of my baby boy having to struggle … as early as age 5 made me want to keep (him) in the house forever.

Greg and I would talk about how terrible it was that we had to avoid Victoria’s Secret because of their advertising. They have the biggest posters in the mall and they are always very sexually explicit.

I thought to myself if these images were on a computer we would call it pornography. At that point I had enough and decided I would go to my local mall (Regency Square in Florence) and ask the manager of Victoria’s Secret to turn the posters in the window around so that only customers were exposed to the images. She was nice but told me all I could do is call this number 614-577-7111.

I have called several times and have asked all my friends and relatives to call. I asked them to first of all be nice and to simply ask them to turn their posters around in the malls.

Their response has been we will forward your message to marketing and if there are enough complaints they will consider it.

Every customer service representative has been friendly and willing to listen. I am writing today to spread the word and to see how I can further spread the message. This is not a boycott of Victoria’s Secret, but it is a start to try and make a difference.

Clair Willis
Muscle Shoals, Ala.