Honey Birdette has once again found itself in the firing line after its latest email newsletter campaign played on a phrase that’s used to call awareness to the war in Gaza.
Earlier this week, in a newsletter sent out 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 this month 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.
Outraged, many took to social media, slamming the “tone deaf” campaign.
“I f**cking hate Honey Birdette with every fibre of my being,” one said, sharing the campaign and highlighting the problems that have come up for the brand in the past, including accusations of sexual harassment towards staff.
I fucking hate honey birdette with every fiber of my being . from the way they allow staff to be sexually harassed daily down to how they constantly steal smaller lingerie brands designs.
Seeing this as their new ad campaign is really just the cherry on top pic.twitter.com/PNL10ueO3a
— Goobie (@GGtheSnail) May 21, 2024
are yall gonna apologise for this or keep being problematic as always??? https://t.co/DXk7kqyG9k pic.twitter.com/5kczRXtcJo
— nik 💥 heesung defender (@masangtaesimp) May 21, 2024
This is the most recent in a long line of controversies for the lingerie label. 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.
Honey Birdette has not yet publicly commented on the controversy. B&T contacted the lingerie outlet for comment but received no response before publication.
