“What’s ‘Kinkmas’, Mummy?” This is the kind of question parents might be fielding from their young children in family shopping centres this Christmas, thanks to Honey Birdette’s BDSM-themed shopfront advertising.
When adults deliberately expose children to adult, sexualised and pornographic content, this is known as grooming. Honey Birdette’s grooming of children is made possible through the collaboration and support of the shopping centres that host them.
It’s nothing new from the Playboy-owned sex store which has a history of imposing porn-themed imagery on an audience which includes children. Sometimes they appear to directly target children with their sexualised ads by featuring images of beloved children's icon Santa in BDSM scenarios, including their "Sorry Kids" campaign, which depicts lingerie clad models straddling Santa alongside the words "Sorry Kids! We gave Santa the night off".
Collective Shout supporter and Dad Kenneth Thor first petitioned Honey Birdette landlords to take action back in 2017. More than 80,000 people signed his petition. Despite years of calling on shopping centre CEOs to act – with some of them publicly claiming to be advocates for gender equality (signed up as 'Champions of Change') despite broadcasting sexist and porn-themed portrayals of women – they have ignored us. These shopping centres have prioritised profits over the wellbeing of women and children.
While the ad has been reported to Ad Standards, we know that even if complaints are upheld (along with more than 80 others) nothing will happen. The signage will eventually be replaced with new porn-themed content, with no penalties for the serial offender.
See also
STOP Honey Birdette using porn-style advertising in your family friendly shopping centres
34 Reasons Why Ad Industry Self-Regulation is a Disaster
How sexualisation and objectification harms women and girls: What the research says
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