National Breast Cancer Foundation ends partnership with Honey Birdette

Honey Birdette pornifies breast cancer for profit - again

For six years running, we have exposed Honey Birdette exploiting breast cancer for profit. This year, the Playboy-owned sex shop continued to eroticise breast cancer by presenting its detection as a pornified fantasy for men’s sexual gratification, with the following ad campaign displayed in shopfront windows and on social media.

Pairing breast cancer with sexual objectification is a classic example of ‘pinkwashing’ – a term used to describe companies that exploit the disease for profit and image enhancement.

But it’s not only highly unethical – breast cancer survivors have continually expressed how they are harmed and humiliated by sexist and pornified ‘awareness’ campaigns. Some shared that Honey Birdette’s hypersexualised images featuring women with perfect, undamaged breasts in lingerie they cannot wear following mastectomies is a slap in the face.

Honey Birdette justified its exploitative treatment of women with a donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, using the good name of NBCF to lend legitimacy to its sexual objectification of women.

We reached out to and met with the NBCF. We shared our concerns regarding Honey Birdette, including their sexist and porn-themed representations of women, failure to comply with the advertising code of ethics, allegations of sexual harassment and bullying staff, and their previous history of eroticising breast cancer.

We are pleased to report that NBCF ended their partnership with Honey Birdette.

The National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) responded to feedback from Collective Shout regarding brand Honey Birdette. Honey Birdette have stopped all fundraising for NBCF and we commend NBCF for their swift action. The NBCF are reviewing their community fundraising accreditation process. If you would like to support NBCF and make a donation, please visit nbcf.org.au.

We commend NBCF for taking action and preserving its good name and reputation.

“You should be ashamed of what you have done”: Breast cancer survivors slam McGrath Foundation over partnership with Honey Birdette

“There is nothing sexy about breast cancer”: survivor Angela Jones calls out breast cancer charity partnership with Playboy-owned Honey Birdette