General Pants has a long history of using sexist and sexually objectifying advertising to sell its merchandise. Their latest ad campaign, in store windows across the country, shows that nothing much has changed.

This is not the first time General Pants has sexually objectified women, or used topless women to promote their products. The youth retailer first came to our attention after featuring pole dancers in their shop window display in Melbourne's Bourke Street store.

In 2011, General Pants management instructed underage staff to wear “I love sex” badges that made them feel embarrassed and uncomfortable.

General Pants then displayed large images of topless women being stripped from behind by an unseen man. Some of these images were framed as large keyholes to suggest the women were being spied on.

A short time later, a supporter alerted us to the store’s change room wallpaper, featuring an array of images advertising pornography and prostitution.

In 2014, General Pants window displays featured sexualised images of young, bikini clad women in the bath alongside the slogan ‘Wet Dreams’.

In 2016, their advertising featured topless and semi-naked women alongside fully clothed men.

The research is clear- exposure to these sort of everyday sexualised images of women has a range of negative impacts, including greater body dissatisfaction and self-objectification in women, greater support of sexist beliefs and a greater tolerance of violence against women, as well as leading both men and women to have a diminished view of women’s competence, morality and humanity.

The ongoing sexualising and objectifying treatment of women by companies like General Pants contributes to real-world harms for women and girls- why is this advertising still permitted?

Ad industry self-regulation in Australia is a failure. In the lead up to the election, we are calling on supporters to contact their local candidates and ask them to support a new regulatory regime to ensure public spaces are free from sexualised and sexually objectifying images that harm women and children.

See also:

Write to your MP

General Pants sexploitation undermines anti-violence against women initiatives

25 Reasons Why Ad Industry Self-Regulation is a Disaster

It’s that time of year again. Every year in the lead up to Christmas, we release our annual blacklist of corporate offenders who have objectified women and sexualised girls throughout the year.

You can send a message about the importance of corporate social responsibility by ‘voting with your wallet’ and making ethical purchasing choices. Give these stores a miss this holiday season. 

“Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” –Anna Lapse

The recent decision of White Ribbon to distance themselves from retailer General Pants could be viewed as a watershed moment for the clothing giant, after many years of contradicting themselves and their ‘empowerment’ of women through vulgar, sexualised and offensive advertising. 

It's that time of year again, already! As Christmas approaches, retailers are kicking it up a notch competing for your business, and Collective Shout releases our annual blacklist of corporate offenders who have sexualised girls and objectified women throughout the year. These companies do not respect women, they have not changed their ways, and they don't deserve your money. 

You can speak with your wallet and show these companies that sexually exploiting women and girls is bad for business.

Below is our boycott list for 2016:

Doughnut Time joins a growing number of companies requiring young staff members to wear uniforms with sexually suggestive slogans and imagery. We have long raised questions about this exploitation of young female staff and invitation for sexual harassment. 

Collective Shout's National Director of Operations Coralie Alison was quoted in The Age over uniforms for female staff with strategically placed doughnuts.

Well General Pants are under the spotlight again for yet another sexist ad campaign. General Pants are repeat offenders. We've highlighted them in our #CrossedOff blog every year since 2010. 

There was the time they forced teenage staff to wear "I love sex" badges. The time they plastered their change rooms with images of pornography and prostitution advertisements. The time they used posters of a topless woman being stripped from behind. And who can forget their "Wet Dreams" promotion.

It’s that time of year again! As the Christmas season draws near, companies are competing for your business.

Now is the time to reflect on corporate behaviour this past year and remember those companies which objectified women and sexualized girls to sell their products and services. These companies do not respect women and do not deserve your Christmas cash.

You can send a powerful message by making ethical purchasing choices and refusing to financially support companies who rely on sexploitation to flog their products.

Here's our 2015 list of corporate sexploitation offenders:

It’s that time of year again! With the Christmas season upon us, retailers are taking it up a notch competing for your business.

Now is the time to remember the companies who objectified women and sexualized girls to sell products and services. They do not respect women and have refused to change their ways. They should not be allowed to profit on the backs of women and girls.

A number of supporters have contacted us about General Pants 'Wet Dreams' ad campaign spotted in shop front windows of various stores around the country. 

"...the reference to “wet dreams” is linked primarily to the competition to win an overseas trip to Dubai"

- Ad Standards Board, apparently not joking.