Lingerie breastfeeding snap deleted by Instagram

A lingerie brand’s campaign to destigmatise breastfeeding in public has proven its point after Instagram removed one of its campaign images.

A lingerie brand’s campaign to destigmatise breastfeeding in public has proven its point after Instagram removed one of its campaign images.

Aussie underwear label Nala launched its “Sorry To Offend You” campaign last week featuring new mother Simone Holtznagel.

In the campaign, Holtznagel was photographed breastfeeding her child in public while wearing the brand’s maternity range. Nala said the “bold” campaign was “aimed at challenging the stigma around breastfeeding in public and championing the beauty of motherhood”.

But one of the images, which featured Holtznagel feeding baby Gia, who she welcome with celebrity personal trainer Jono Castano in March, was found to violate Instagram’s Community Guidelines on nudity.

News.com.au understands the image vanished from the platform for two hours before it was restored.

Instagram temporarily removed Nala's post intended to destigmatise breast feeding. Picture: Instagram/@wear_nala

The brand’s account received a notification saying: “It looks like you shared or sent something that shows nudity or sexual activity.”

The owners behind Nala said they were “genuinely shattered” upon receiving the violation.

Co-founder Chloe de Winter told news.com.au: “When we got notified yesterday that our campaign had been taken down because Meta deemed breastfeeding ‘(nudity or) sexual activity’, I had knots in my stomach. It made me feel saddened, disappointed and disheartened. It’s genuinely infuriating that a campaign that has had such a positive impact on so many people could be deemed to be in breach of their ‘community guidelines’.

“It’s such a double standard, you see male nipples on Instagram and everywhere all the time, but the second it’s a breastfeeding mum it’s a sexual act? Come on, it’s 2024.”

Chloe said the whole situation was “ironic”, particularly as the campaign tagline, “sorry to offend you” was meant sarcastically as she said it was “absurd” anyone would be offended by breastfeeding.

One of the images in the post that was temporarily removed. Picture: Instagram/@wear_nala

“The whole purpose of shooting the campaign in some of Melbourne’s most iconic locations was to show you should be able to feed anywhere, anytime,” she said.

“We obviously were thinking about the physical world when we created the campaign, but seeing the same issues in the online world is equally disturbing. How can the next generation of women grow up in a world where this is de-stigmatised if we have platforms like Meta standing in our way?”

Meanwhile, Holtznagel said it was “incredibly disheartening” that her first campaign post-baby was flagged for “nudity or sexual activity”.

“It blows my mind that brands all over the world can post risque shots, yet breastfeeding faces such a massive double standard. This is the exact issue our campaign is aimed to address,” she said.

“While it’s disappointing, it’s creating an opportunity for real change – it’s sparking conversation, platforming an issue and challenging the status quo. So I ask, why does it offend you? Why is it acceptable for men to have exposed nipples online, but not for me to simply nourish my baby?

Simone Holtznagel starred in the campaign. Picture: Instagram/@wear_nala

“Advertising truly reflects our society, and censoring such content suggests it should be hidden in real life too. There’s absolutely nothing inappropriate about showcasing a woman’s body, especially when she’s nourishing her child.”

Social media users had a huge reaction to the post being taken down.

Former Bachelor star Anna Heinrich called it an “absolute joke”.

Another commenter said: “Yet I literally see porn on this app freely being shared daily. And when I report it I’m told it’s fine. So ridiculous!!!”

“This is not sexual activity it’s feeding and nourishing a baby! Stop sexualising women @instagram @zuck time to do some inner work,” one said.

News.com.au understands that the post is now back on the platform after it was mistakenly removed by AI.