Honey Birdette forced to remove advertising over charity link

A controversial lingerie label has been forced into pulling down their latest advertising campaign - but not for the reason you’d expect.

A Whitney campaign image from Honey Birdette.

The ex-Brisbane-based founder of a global lingerie label says she’s been forced to remove posters advertising a fundraiser for a breast cancer charity after pressure from a feminist group.

Honey Birdette’s managing director Eloise Monaghan said she was contacted by the McGrath Foundation - whose logo is featured in the advertisement - and asked to remove the signage after the group Collective Shout took issue with the campaign.

Honey Birdette’s imagery features a blonde in pink lingerie with the foundation’s logo and the words: ‘Our aim? To raise $30,000 for breast cancer care with the Whitney pink stockings’.

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The original image with the McGrath Foundation logo.

But in a post on their Facebook page, Brisbane Collective Shout campaigner Melinda Liszewski slammed the lingerie brand for ‘pinkwashing’.

“Now Honey Birdette has used the logo of the McGrath Foundation to lend legitimacy to its sexual objectification of women,” Ms Liszewski said.

“Pairing a breast cancer charity with the sexual objectification of women is a classic example of pinkwashing - a term used to describe companies that exploit breast cancer charities for profit and image enhancement.”

Honey Birdette raised $27,000 in four days from the sale of the pink stockings.

All money raised from the sale of the $30 pink stockings will go to the McGrath Foundation, but Ms Liszewski said the brand should’ve gone further.

“Given the bra alone is worth $139.95 - and is the most prominent product alongside the McGrath Foundation logo on its home page - why isn’t the company donating every cent from the sale of the bra?” she asked.

Ms Liszewski was also critical of an instructional flyer regarding breast checks on Honey Birdette’s website that she said was “heavy on sexual innuendo”.

A Whitney campaign image from Honey Birdette.

“We need to resist the appropriation of breast cancer campaigns for pinkwashing unethical, anti-women, brand-promoting corporate behaviour.”

A McGrath Foundation spokesperson said they relied on the generous donations donations of the Australian public and corporate partners to fund McGrath breast care nurses that support people with breast cancer and their families around the country.

“We are very grateful for the funds raised by our supporters during Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October,” she said.

“We are aware of some complaints in response to our supporter Honey Birdette’s content. This content has been removed as it is not in line with our agreement with them.”

A Whitney campaign image from Honey Birdette.

Ms Monaghan said she was not critical of the McGrath Foundation at all, but instead slammed Collective Shout who published a lengthy attack on the retailer online.

“This is insanity,” Ms Monaghan said.

“We should be embracing our bodies and raising money for cancer and disease. Now we’re calling raising money for cancer sexual.”

Collective Shout has clashed with Honey Birdette repeatedly over what they claim are sexist and pornified representations of women.

Ms Monaghan said the brand took the unprecedented step of having the Whitney model’s nipples airbrushed out of the latest campaign image.

“The reason we did it with the breast cancer one was, in all honesty, I just didn’t want to distract from (the fundraiser),” she said.

“I thought ‘I’m not going to let them hijack this one’. It shouldn’t be controversial.”

The original advertising with the McGrath Foundation logo.

“It killed me (to airbrush the nipples out) and I thought ‘do I let them win on this win on this one?’ And then I thought ‘I actually just want to raise the $30,000.”

Ms Monaghan said the criticism was frustrating.

“Give us a break. We’re trying to do the right thing,” she said.

“It’s the one campaign I thought they wouldn’t touch that they’ve gone for.”

Ms Monaghan said the campaign was also about encouraging their customers to check their breasts for signs of breast cancer. and that sales of the stockings raised $27,000 in four days.

“We’ve had one of our girls diagnosed with breast cancer and she came out the other side of it, but she’s only 24. I just think we should do whatever we can do,” she said.

“We’re doing something good and Collective Shout in their strange 1930s way are still hampering us in doing that.”