On the one hand, this is a pretty low-level situation for which to seek assistance from a local TV consumer-watchdog reporter. On the other hand, it’s one of the most hilarious things we can pass on as the year winds down.
A male shopper at a Publix supermarket in Cape Coral, Fl. turned to his local FOX-TV affiliate’s “Four in Your Corner” after glimpsing a recent National Enquirer issue with President-elect Donald Trump on the cover. And… in front of the shelf-stack of Enquirer issues, near the supermarket checkout area, a translucent white plastic shield similar to ones used to mute from younger passers-by the fronts of Cosmopolitan and men’s magazines.
Here’s the statement WFTX-TV reporter Lisa Greenberg got from Publix HQ:
“The National Enquirer receives the most customer complaints about front page content, so they were added to the list of magazines required to be covered, just last week.”
The shopper who started all this, Walter Indyk, is convinced the complaints are due to Trump. The Enquirer consistently features The Donald on its front.
The plastic shield was removed from the Cape Coral Publix location as a result of Greenberg’s inquiry and report. But according to the reporter, similar ones remain at several of the chain’s other area grocery stores.
Cape Coral is part of Lee County, which voted 58.1% in favor of Trump. However, some of the 37.8% that preferred Hillary evidently also shop at this Publix.
This story was written by Richard Horgan and originally appeared on FishbowlNY