Banned Monkey Business

Banned Monkey Business

A business franchise named Three Monkeys has been prohibited from opening a new location near SaveMart. Why? Because they sell tobacco.

The store, which is marketed as selling “discount tobacco and smokes”, has been subject to controversy because it’s opening in an area that’s flanked on four sides by schools, with two high schools, a middle school, and two elementary schools all within walking distance. Some parents have been arguing that their youths shouldn’t have to be near a store like this so often, and that it could negatively influence children and counteract years of work by school programs like “DARE,” which combat the use of drugs and tobacco.

The city council’s solution? Forbid the store from opening. Here are our opinions:-

Marley – Preventing a legitimate business owner from opening his store just because it sells smokes more blatantly than any of the other stores around here is wrong. I think that the only reason the shop has become an issue at all is because of the helicopter parents who run this part of the town. The main problem is that a shop centered around cigarettes is dangerous to children and their young impressionable minds. I think it’s the job of parents to let their children know what tobacco is and how harmful it is rather than trying to hide its existence.

Karl – However, they do have a legitimate concern. Naturally, it is illegal to market products such as these to youths. Tobacco products are strictly 18+, and do contain dangers not just to young people, but to all people who use them. Youths such as the students at nearby Breen Elementary are highly impressionable, so concern could be warranted. What I think the best solution would be is a compromise. The sign for the shop, named “Three Monkeys” is a goofy-looking monkey puffing on a cigar. Without the cigar it could be in a children’s show, and the picture is framed with fun green block letters.

The problem here is that a sign like this could be interpreted as advertising to kids. So my compromise is this: have the store change out the sign for something more generic, but still their own, and then allow them to open as planned. The store would get a  location with their unique stamp, and the inside could feature whatever flair they want, but on the outside, where kids would be, it would be just another drab, unappealing store for the adults. In this manner, they wouldn’t be exposed to smoker culture any more than they do at a gas station or convenience store.

Both – In the end, the store is still banned. An appeal of this decision by the owner of the store might be likely, but it won’t succeed due to the furious outcry of parents who don’t want their children to be corrupted. More likely is that he’ll have to change his location to a place where there aren’t schools and children to be corrupted.