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Bad Goodie Bags
The giveaway, put together by nightclub promotions company Mixmaster Throwdown, included two condoms, a catalog for adult store Lovers Lane, an explicit CD titled Vigina, “Bearly Legal” suntan lotion sachets printed with marijuana leaves and a book of gag “sex coupons,” redeemable for sexual favors, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
It was a surprising handout for a bill that included pop sweetheart Hilary Duff. Other performers included Akon, Rihanna and Gym Class Heroes. Pam Richard, who took her three daughters to the concert to celebrate one’s eighth-grade graduation, was not amused. Her 12-year-old daughter has a disability similar to Tourette’s that makes her nervous in crowds, so Richard approached a dancer to pick up a pink goodie bag for the girl, which she assumed contained an age-appropriate CD.
“I am disgusted they would promote sex and drugs to a 12-year-old,” Richard told the Sun-Times. “About 90 percent of the people at the concert were teens and pre-teens. This was completely inappropriate.”
Toyota Park GM Dan Garnett told Pollstar that the 28,000-capacity venue did not approve the goodie-bags and would never allow similar material to be distributed.
“We absolutely do not condone that kind of material being handed out. All handouts need to be approved by us. It was not approved by us. If we saw that happening we would have put a stop to it immediately,” Garnett said.
“The company that did it, did it without our authorization. They have taken full responsibility. That company’s name is Mixmaster Throwdown – We wish we could have gotten ahold of them before they did it and they would have run it by us.”
Eric Gorde of the Lovers Lane marketing department told the Sun-Times that although the company supplied Mixmaster Throwdown with the catalogs and sex coupons with the knowledge they would be handed out at the concert, it was ultimately “a mistake” to hand out the X-rated freebies.
“I was shocked when I heard about this,” he said. “Lovers Lane does have a contract with Mixmaster Throwdown, but it is for promotions in nightclubs and other exclusively adult settings. … Our material should never have made it into the hands of minors.”
According to Mixmaster Throwdown’s director, Dan Morrell, it was all a big mix-up. Morrell told the Sun-Times that T-shirts and dance music CDs were supposed to be handed out but some of his staff grabbed identical bags containing the X-rated material that was meant for 21-and-over nightclubs.”As a single father, it makes me sick to think that those bags can get into the hands of a 12-year-old,” Morrell said.
The Sun-Times wrote that radio station WBBM-FM B96’s GM Peter Bowen simply said he was “looking into” the situation. Bowen was not immediately available for comment.