A City of Sydney councillor is demanding that further action be taken against Honey Birdette’s provocative advertisements in the Broadway shopping centre.
Labor councillor Linda Scott has been leading the campaign for action since 2022, after the brand’s “pornographic” ads appeared in clear view of a LEGO store frequented by children. “I’ve been contacted by a number of concerned residents who find the large, often bondage and fetish-themed, digital billboards inappropriate, and in some cases distressing,” Scott told City Hub.
“Companies such as Honey Birdette have been able to exploit loopholes in voluntary advertising codes to display pornographic and violent images of women for too long”.
Scott is now renewing calls for a crackdown on this kind of advertising in light of the rise in domestic violence and public attacks against women against women in Sydney. “I’m even more determined to take action to ensure advertising images depicting violent acts against women aren’t displayed prominently in our local shopping centres”.
The lingerie retailer is no stranger to controversy, having been found to have breached the Australian Association of National Advertisers AANA Code of Ethics more than 60 times.
In May, the brand sent a newsletter to subscribers with the subject line “ALL EYES ON AYAH!”. The email has triggered outrage across social media, with many believing the phrase mimics “All Eyes On Rafah”, which has been used widely to bring awareness to Israel’s invasion of the Palestinian city.
It was journalist and host of the podcast Here’s The Thing Soaliha Iqbal who first drew attention to the campaign. Pedestrian.tv reported that she had shared an Instagram Story and carousel, slamming the brand for repurposing the slogan and for using the name “Ayah,” which is a Muslim name that means “sigh of God’s existence”.
“The marketing email about the product was titled ‘ALL EYES ON AYAH!’ — which appears to be a play on ‘ALL EYES ON RAFAH!’, a phrase used to bring attention to the genocide of Palestinians who are trapped in Rafah,” Iqbal said. “At a time where we are seeing an increase in both the dehumanisation and fetishisation of Arabs and Muslims (really, these are two sides of the same coin), it is particularly questionable to use this name for lingerie set”.
“Why would Honey Birdette think this was a good idea? Who signed off on this?” Iqbal questioned in her post.
In March this year, the brand was slapped with its 68th upheld complaint from the ad standards board after an advert titled ‘Stephanie Black’ that shows two women clad in strappy leather lingerie, with one of the women wearing nothing on her breasts aside from nipple covers appeared in a shopfront window, visible to children.
