The Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce received harsh criticism over its annual calendar for the cover photo that shows a young boy not wearing a shirt or pants.
The chamber president said after backlash over the cover picture a second printing will include a new picture.
The calendar is a fundraiser for the chamber and features men from various local businesses baring almost everything and in various strategically placed poses. Local businesses pay for the opportunity to sponsor a photo in the calendar.
The revealing image features four realtors who appear to be wearing almost nothing with real estate signs covering their mid-sections.
In the middle of the line of men is a boy covering himself with a sign that reads “SOLD” across his waist.
“I wouldn’t want my daughter, who is seven years old, to be in anything of this nature,” said Robert Rodriguez of East Hartford.
The Family Institute of Connecticut in a post on its website blasts the chamber for placing the “nearly-naked boy in an even mildly suggestive setting such as in a calendar of nearly nude men.”
The chamber president said no one in the review process saw the photo that way and would not have printed it if they had.
The president calls this situation “extremely unfortunate” and the boy’s family is upset by how the image is being interpreted.
“I think with things like that you really have to be careful,” said Tiwanna Lewis of East Hartford.
The chamber has been selling the calendars for a couple years as a fundraiser. It said the calendar, which is selling quickly, is supposed to be all in good fun.
June 2016 features Adam Clemens from Century 21 – Clemens & Sons Realty.
“It’s a joke. You have to take it kind of light-heartedly,” said Clemens.
The chamber wants to make it clear it doesn’t believe it’s done anything wrong – but the second printing with the new picture will respect anyone that’s offended.
Coldwell Banker has ended its affiliation with the four realtors in the photo.
"The company does not condone the action that the independent contractors took in this circumstance. It did not support the agents in their participation and did not authorize the usage of its logo in this manner," Aglaia Pikounis, public relations manager for Coldwell Banker, said in a statement.
