Honey Birdette: Lingerie chain stops responding to advertising watchdog complaints
For years, parents have been getting their knickers in a knot over Honey Birdette’s shopfront ads. The company simply doesn’t care.
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Australia’s most-complainedabout advertiser, mid-market lingerie chain Honey Birdette, has virtually stopped responding to the dozens of complaints lodged with the advertising industry watchdog.
The lingerie chain has at times vigorously defended its eye-catching advertising strategy at hearings conducted by Ad Standards Australia, but has recently adopted a more cavalier approach by simply ignoring complaints from concerned families about its salacious shopfront displays and raunchy social media posts.
Among the recent complaints Honey Birdette has failed to respond to was a large poster in the window of its store at Highpoint shopping centre in Maribyrnong.
The ad shows two women posing provocatively in lacey red lingerie.
In a complaint to the watchdog, a concerned local mum wrote: “The store in question is very close to Kmart, a family oriented department store, and I find the content in these photos to be extremely provocative and potentially disturbing.”
The mum said the ad might confuse the “developing minds” of young children, and said showing a “sexual connotation” between two scantily lad women was “particularly inappropriate”.
“I’m working hard to instill certain traditional values and morals in my daughter, and these displays feel counter-productive.”
The lingerie chain has also been criticised for sexualising Christmas by running ads wishing its customers a “Merry Kinkmas”, with the slogan “‘tis the season to be naughty”.
A concerned parent wrote she was afraid kids who walked past the store would be “introduced to BDSM/fetish”.
“The models depicted are virtually naked, wearing very brief and sheer lingerie,” the parent wrote.
A Herald Sun analysis of complaints to the Ad Standards showed Honey Birdette only bothered to respond to two of 34 Ad Standards adjudications last year.
Those responses argued that an ad for lingerie that carried the slogan “Boobs. Touch Yourself” was predominantly a breast cancer awareness campaign.
An Ad Standards spokesman said: “Honey Birdette rarely engages with Ad Standards regarding complaints about their shop front advertising.”
“Despite this, Ad Standards is committed to responding to every single community complaint and we will continue to notify Honey Birdette when their ads do not meet community expectations.
“The vast majority of Australian advertisers engage with the Ad Standards complaints process and comply with the advertising rules.”
The Honey Birdette ad campaign which most flagrantly breach advertising industry rules was for the “Pony” line of lingerie.
One of the social media ads said the strappy leatherette underwear would offer “a ride to remember”.
A mum-of-two who saw ads for the “Pony” lingerie at Westfield Fountain Gate said “BDSM bestiality role play … should not be on display to the general public which includes my 4 and 7 year old.”
Another parent said of a banner of a woman in “Pony” nipple pasties: “Only the most reprehensible of adults would expose children to such an image”.
“The advert has porn and bestiality themed content … in a family shopping centre, where families can see them.”
Honey Birdette and its parent company, Playboy, were contacted for comment.
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