Honey Birdette, Broadway: Parents rally against lingerie shop’s advertising violations

A lingerie company which breached advertising standards 61 times with its raunchy promotional displays and images is under fire from parents who want to protect their kids.

A provocative lingerie company which breached advertising standards dozens of times with its raunchy displays is under fire from parents who want to protect their kids, including from one image which asked shoppers if they were “ready to get wet”.

Honey Birdette has breached the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) standards 61 times since 2012 with its raunchy, brash and revealing floor-facing posters, violating the regulator’s language, exploitative image and sexuality codes of ethics.

Its store in Sydney’s Broadway Shopping Centre has a digital poster rotating through a selection of explicit promotional material.

The shop is directly opposite Lego and Smiggle stores, popular with young children, and, among others, showcased “a woman wearing red latex tights and gold nipple pasties”, “a topless man in a pig mask”, a collared bikini-clad women with a chain attached, and a blindfold with the words “Tease me, F**k me”, according to the company’s rap sheet on Ad Standards Australia.

In a Facebook advert in 2020, a woman’s crotch in a black bikini with a dripping icy pole in front is pictured. The word “WET” is superimposed across the image and the caption asked if people are “ready to get wet”.

The Honey Birdette advertising imagery that has drawn controversy. Source: Collective Shout.

Parents, aghast at the displays and their prominence near children’s shops, have taken action into their own hands and demonstrated outside the store.

“Children have not given their consent, but they still suffer these violations at their local shops,” Leigh Morgan, a member of the Forest Lodge and Inner West Parents group, said.

“In May, State Planning Minister Anthony Roberts met with us and said he’d take action, but we have been forced to take the protection of our children into our own hands.”

Morgan, whose pronouns are they/them, said it wasn’t a case of sanitising the shopping centre, but the location opposite two popular children’s shops was an issue and local council regulations were being usurped by state government planning laws.

Morgan said they only want the planning minister to clarify that fast-track planning approvals would no longer be given to retail tenants which have breached AANA regulations.

“That clear statement would mean council can protect children in public spaces,” Morgan said.

Parents and councillor Linda Scott (right) outside Honey Birdette in Broadway. Picture: Franca Turrin

A breach of the advertising code results in a removal order, but doesn’t involve a fine or penalty, and there is no enforcement.

When approached for comment, the Department of Planning deferred to the Department of Customer Service, where a spokeswoman said “the advertising and marketing communications industry is self-regulated, and advertising is expected to adhere to the Code of Ethics set out by AANA”.

The parents group has now amassed over 350 signatures for its cause and the support of City of Sydney councillor Linda Scott.

“As support for movements to support women grow, it’s important for the state government to listen to women,” Ms Scott said.

“After meeting mothers, it’s disappointing Minister Davies has refused to take action to address their concerns.

“The strong community concerns combined with multiple advertising standards breaches are evidence that these images are contextually inappropriate in Broadway Shopping Centre.”

Honey Birdette was approached for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.