News

Risking ‘significant reputational damage’: Ad Standards pulls up Honey Birdette for 7th time this year

Honey Birdette has landed its 7th breach of the AANA Code of Ethics of the year, with Ad Standards denouncing the lingerie store for repeated non-compliance.

The complaint this time concerned a provocative image of a woman wearing a green embroidered bra, “reclining with her head tilted back, eyes closed and lips parted”.

The store front poster received a number of complaints from members of the community, primarily concerning the close proximity of the advertisement to children visiting nearby shops like Big W and Boost Juice.

The issues raised regarded Section 2.4. of the AANA Code of Ethics – Sex/Sexuality/nudity: “As has become custom for Honey Birdette, it did not provide a response to the complaints, nor the determination of the Ad Standards Community Panel, which ultimately found ‘the advertisement did not treat sex, sexuality and nudity with sensitivity to the relevant broad audience and did breach Section 2.4 of the Code’.”

Commenting on Honey Birdette’s repeated offence, a spokesperson from Ad Standards said: “The vast majority of Australian advertisers comply with the advertising codes and if found to breach the rules, they will promptly remove or modify the offending ad. Honey Birdette are a rare exception in that they choose not to comply with Ad Standards Community Panel determinations and control the advertising medium via their shop fronts. If their ads were displayed in other traditional or online media, they would likely be removed by the media owner as all major Australian media owners support the advertising self-regulation system. Brands that don’t follow the rules risk significant reputational damage.”

Earlier this year, Honey Birdette was found in breach three times in succession, for three separate advertisements.

At the time, the advertiser responded to one complaint saying: “We refute that our advertising is ‘porn-inspired’, and do not believe that a reasonable person could seriously compare our images to pornography. The complainant again takes issue with our model’s mouth being open, and suggests that they present as though ‘engaged in sexual activity’. Our model is riding a mechanical bull in the context of our Western-themed lingerie campaign, and is obviously not engaged in sexual activity.”

Mumbrella was unable to find the advertisement to include in this story.

ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.