Well, well, well… look what we have here. Lingerie franchise Honey Birdette have found themselves neck-deep in yet another PR sinkhole; this time, copping the brunt of angry parents demanding they rethink their ‘soft porn-style advertising’.
An online petition emerged earlier this week calling for Westfield to remove Honey Birdette‘s advertising plastered around their centres, claiming the raunchy campaign was less than appropriate for the ‘wholesome family’ image of the shopping super-chain.
As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, appalled Sydney mother Kat Israel and Melbourne father Kenneth Thor have communicated their concerns over the risqué advertising campaigns littering their local Westfield. Kenneth described the posters as featuring ‘near naked women clad only with sheer lingerie in all their raunchy glory’.
‘Even worse, [my daughter’s] shrieks caught the attention of my six-year-old son, who came running and together they stared and pointed at the porn-style images trying to make sense of them.’
Whether or not Mr Thor took his children aside and explained the intricacies of human nature remains to be seen, but he submit a complaint to the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB). The complaint was upheld, but if the past is any indication it’s unlikely the lingerie chain will be reprimanded. A spokesperson from the ASB blithely claimed that a ‘number of Honey Birdette ads have been found to breach standards but an equal number have been found to be acceptable.’
Eloise Monaghan, managing director of Honey Birdette, described the petition as ridiculous.
‘We’ve had tears in change rooms because people feel good about themselves and all this group wants to do is make people feel bad about themselves and they’re using us as their platform.’
Honey Birdette, minus the brand’s previous PR hiccups, rather frustratingly has the makings of a spectacular entity: an accessible Westfield-friendly store stocking beautiful lingerie and one of the top sex-toy brands, couple with immaculately assembled salespeople with an apparent interest in your sex-life – it’s a shop made in consumer-self-esteem heaven. Alas, it’s only a great idea in theory.
Don’t get me wrong, if I could ignore the fact Honey Birdette have been called out by numerous former staff for blatantly stealing other brand’s designs, and yeah okay, there was that whole hurrah about staff mistreatment and completely unrealistic (ahem, sexist) expectations in the workplace uniform department – I’d shop there as much as my pay check allowed.
The problem is, though – aside from their appalling business tactics – everyone has an opinion in this day and age.
Society has been toeing a very fine line between trying to desexualise and celebrate the human form in all of its many shapes and offerings, to then cowering behind grandma’s skirts when it all becomes a bit too liberal and empowering. At least Eloise Monaghan seems to agree,
‘We’ve spent the last 11 years empowering women. All this group wants to do is disempower women; it’s 2017, it’s time to grow up,’
We can try and shelter our children from overt sexuality, but who as a kid didn’t hear about sex through playground whispers, or catch glimpses of sultry moments on daytime or prime-time (basically any time) TV? Sex is everywhere. But that’s not to say that we should see it everywhere. Westfield certainly has the image of a family-friendly environment; a place you can escape to with your young clan and avoid unexpected questions like, ‘hey daddy, why isn’t that lady wearing any clothes?’
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we need to teach younger generations that consensual sex is a normal and healthy activity, and that the human body is beautiful in every shape or form. But how can we expect society to evolve if we’re not nurturing our young to view the world in a shade of lens other than our forebears nude-fearing rose?
So, does Westfield need to reevaluate their store structure altogether? Do we need to send 18+ stores back to dark, dingy alleys and midnight trading hours? Should we just send sexual education and body image back to the Stone Ages while we’re there?
How would concerned parents react if, say, a Victoria Secrets store cropped up in their nearest Westfield? Would they submit the same complaints about VS‘s walls of lingerie-clad Angels? Because those stores exist in airports, and having worked in an airport I can confirm that many, many children and families travel. A spokesperson for the ASB in relation to the Honey Birdette saga puts it succinctly,
‘With lingerie advertising, what we find is that there are always some people who find it offensive regardless of how it’s advertised.’
Are we all perhaps being a bit too sensitive? Maybe. Is it time Honey Birdette pulled up stumps and quit altogether? I wouldn’t say no. But above all, should Westfield represent and cater to all human beings? That’s a big, resounding yes.
Do you think these advertisements are inappropriate for the Westfield environment? We want to hear your opinion, leave a comment below!
