Morality in Media Now Whining About Groupon Playboy Offer

LOS ANGELES—Morality in Media is fast becoming the nation's most predictable (and ineffective) crybaby when it comes to sex in society, but what else is new? In a sense, MiM exists merely to annoy, or maybe just to aggravate, which is actually a time-honored American tradition and something protected by the Constitution. That they do not share the same expansive view of the Constitution is unfortunate, but again, what else is new? But the organization, which has never failed to amuse many of us who work in porn with their hyperbolic declarations and nutty scientific claims, seems to be coming apart at the seams. They are acting out in ways that diminish their message (if such a thing is possible) and make them look like kids pretending to be adults. It's kind of embarrassing for the country, actually, to have its preeminent "morality watchdog" be such a joke. But what else is new?! Anyhoo, the latest attempt by MiM to dredge up more media attention (hey look, it worked!), in the aftermath of its call to boycott Groupon over the Kink.com San Francisco Armory tours, is another Groupon call to arms over an offer to attend a Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp with Steven Tyler at the Playboy Mansion. (Gasp!) According to right-wing newser World News Daily, in an article hilariously headlined, "Groupon? More like 'grope on,'" MiM's fear-of-flying executive director Dawn Hawkins, channeling Ted Bundy, noted that Playboy “has done more to promote female sexual exploitation than any other entity in the world.” MiM also claims that because of its boycott 10,000 people have discontinued using Groupon, but one wonders if those acolytes of animosity, if they exist at all, were really customers in the first place or just brainless followers of MiM's Call to Harm. Of more interest is the apparent fact that MiM, perhaps in response to a YouTube video called "Moral Cowards," posted by a fellow who calls himself The Amazing Atheist, decided to remove its phone number from the contact page on its website. The video is humorous and worth a watch, and contains a screen grab of the contact page pre and post removal. However, if you don't have time to watch it, the MiM office phone number, in case you ever need to call it (and it hasn't been changed), is (212) 870-3222. Photo: Playboy manse in Los Angeles