Favourite story of the week, and it's only Monday. Parents of a 13 year old girl in the US (of course) are suing Wal-Mart over an Evanescence CD. Surely we were all left slightly scarred the first time we sat through a whole Evanescence album, but in this case it is the band's use of occasional swear words that has left the 13 year old in question in a state of shock (well, actually it's the 13 year old's dad that is in a state of shock).
The supermarket giant has a policy of not selling albums that come with 'parental advisory' stickers (so, great place for hip hop fans to shop then). However, just because a CD release does not carry such a sticker it doesn't guarantee that there will be no swearing on it, and that is what parent Trevin Skeens is protesting about.
He bought his daughter the Evanescence album 'Anywhere But Home' from his local WalMart store, and says he was shocked when he heard some of the tracks on it contained swear words. Now he is calling on WalMart to remove the offending album from its Maryland stores, and is launching somewhat ambitious legal action against the supermarket chain, Evanescence's label Wind-Up and their US distributor BMG, claiming $74,500 in damages. Mr Skeens told reporters: "I don't want any other families to get this, expecting it to be clean. It needs to be removed from the shelves to prevent other children from hearing it".
He reckons WalMart should accept responsibility for the content of the album they sold him especially as, he claims, the offending track had been censored on the company's music sales website, confirming they were aware the swear word in question was used.
WalMart are distancing themselves from being responsible for occasional swear words on albums they sell in their stores. Wal-Mart spokesman Guy Whitcomb told local reporters: "While Wal-Mart sets high standards, it would not be possible to eliminate every image, word or topic that an individual might find objectionable".