In October while shopping at our local
Kohl's Department Store, I spied games in colorful boxes displayed on racks near children's clothing with names such as Drinko, Keg-Pong, and Shots and Ladders, all manufactured by a company called Elements.
On closer inspection I discovered one of the ways to play these games, according to instructions included, is to drink shots of alcohol until one loses consciousness. Drinking until one passes out can result in death.
I wrote on
YourHub.com of my shock and dismay that Kohl's, or any retailer, for that matter, would be so irresponsible. I contacted Kohl's at both the local level and in Menomonee, Wisconsin, location of their world headquarters, to bring this very serious matter to their attention.
Though they were polite at every level, ultimately they chose to offer no comment for the record about these games--and chose to keep selling them in stores and on their website.
Frustrated, I began to provide links to my YourHub.com article in emails to drug and alcohol abuse prevention organizations across the nation. Though I heard back from a few, I wasn't at all sure where my concerns, or my story, might lead.
When writers post stories on the YourHub.com website, they can track each of their story's "hits" or reads. I noticed the past couple of months the odometer, so to speak, on my story about the alcohol abusing games at Kohl's clicked rapidly. With reads approaching the 3,000 mark, far beyond the typical 100 to 300 reads, I knew something was up. But, I had no way of knowing who the readers might be.
Occasionally over the past weeks I have used key words from my story in internet search engines to try figuring out where my story was getting exposure. Today, my answer came.
Apparently one of the drug and alcohol abuse prevention advocacy groups I contacted ran with my concerns and my story.
Join Together, based in Boston, rallied their supporters and generated a deluge of complaint mail for Kohl's over these dangerous games. And, they did not stop there. They targeted
Target and
Linens 'n Things, too, retailers also promoting and selling Drinko, Keg-Pong, and Shots and Ladders.
Great news. I discovered today according to no fewer than 500 internet news websites, including those of major newpapers such as
USAToday and the
Washington Times, Kohl's, Target and Linens 'n Things bowed to the pressure of Join Together and agreed to pull alcohol-abusing games from their shelves and websites.
I congratulate these major retailers, though I am not completely sure they had more than avoidance of bad publicity and litigation at heart. I congratulate Join Together in Boston for their efforts and for helping send the message to big businesses that the public will not tolerate such blatant disregard for public safety.
YourHub.com had a role. This is the second time my words on YourHub.com soared across the nation. I am pleased.
Read more at:
http://denver.yourhub.com/CASTLEROCK/Stories/News/Activism/Story~138623.aspx
http://washtimes.com/upi/20070111-035446-9085r.htm
http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2006/after-outcry-kohls-agrees.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-10-drinkgames_x.htm