To the editor:

During the five years I have lived in Lawrence, I have often shopped at the discount furniture stores. Bookcases, mattresses, and rugs now grace my home because I appreciate fine quality as well as a fair price.

However, recently I have been dismayed by the advertisement of one of these stores which appears in the Journal-World. This advertisement features several items of furniture offered at discount prices, graphically portrayed by sexual innuendoes and pictures of bikini-clad women.

I understand the importance of marketing in the business world, and I am no prude. But I am tired of the constant bombardment of sensuality by the media. It seems the American public cannot be expected to buy jeans, toothpaste, or furniture unless we are first approached through our sexual appetites.

Surely an intelligent male can drive to a furniture store and inspect the woodgrain of a bookcase without the stimulation of his sexual fantasies. Most families decide on a sofa by the padding in the cushions and the color of the upholstery. They do not need callouts pasted to a brunette that remind them to, “Come see what’s hot!” Furthermore, what kind of idiot dresses in a bikini and then sits on a leather recliner?

Give me a break! I will shop at this store if the owner continues to give me quality and discounts. I don’t need half-naked models to convince me to buy a mattress.

Rebecca Thesman,

Lawrence