It’s been a big month for us here at Collective Shout! Our message has attracted a lot of mainstream media attention. From the harms of porn and porn-themed ads, the exploitation of girls on Instagram, and the campaign to raise the age for social media access, our voice is being heard.

Since the beginning of our movement, we’ve been calling out the sexualisation and objectification of women and girls. We’ve argued that sexualising, objectifying and porn-themed representations of women – particularly when they are normalised, unremarkable and make up the backdrop to our lives – shape attitudes towards women. Essentially, when women are portrayed as sexual objects existing for men’s sexual entertainment and use, this has real-world consequences for women and girls.

Days after we exposed sex store Honey Birdette’s 74^th advertising ethics violation, our campaign on the failures of ad industry self-regulation has attracted national media attention.

Media Release

Shopping centre sex stores Honey Birdette hits 74th advertising violation

Playboy-owned sex shop Honey Birdette has been found in breach of the Australian Association of National Advertisers code of ethics for the 74th time. The latest Ad Standards rulings related to three p*rn themed window displays. 

Since 2010, Ad Standards has investigated over 160 complaints about Honey Birdette promotions, upholding complaints against 74* – three in the last month alone. Two separate ads were deemed to have a “high level of nudity” and found in breach of Section 2.4 of the Code.

Three breaches in one month for Playboy sex shop

Ad Standards has issued rulings on a new set of pornified Honey Birdette shop window ads after a series of community complaints. The decisions came just weeks after Honey Birdette attracted its 70th ad violation for breaching the Australian Association of National Advertisers Code of Ethics.

Playboy-owned sex shop Honey Birdette has received its 70th ruling for being in violation of Australian Association of National Advertisers code of ethics. The rulings relate to the company’s porn-themed window displays in shopping centres.

Since 2010, Ad Standards has investigated close to 160 complaints about Honey Birdette promotions, upholding complaints against 70. The latest ruling was announced 13 March, with two separate ads deemed to have a “high level of nudity” and found in breach of Section 2.4 of the Code.

A new Children's Advertising Code has come into effect as of December following a review by the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), but it is ultimately meaningless. 

We recently shared to Facebook the latest Bondage, Discipline, Dominance, Submission, Sadism, and Masochism (BDSM) style posters hanging in Honey Birdette's shop windows for school holidays. We intentionally added blurred sections across the chest and genital region before posting. As a campaigning movement it is important to our strategy that we alert supporters when there is an ad that needs calling out. 

The post read: 

Westfield partners with p*rn giant for back to school child grooming - take action!

Content warning - *we have censored the ad

Our Engagement Coordinator Coralie Alison spotted this graphic p*rn themed Honey Birdette ad at a Westfield shopping centre while back-to-school shopping with young children.

The Playboy-owned s*x shop window ad - labelled ‘Stephanie Black’ - features near naked women in cut-out bondage wear that exposes their genital region. One is topless, wearing nipple pasties.

The shopping centre is currently running kids’ school holiday activities and other promos enticing parents to come purchase children’s school supplies.

Last year Ad Standards upheld community complaints against a similar shop window ad for the ‘Stephanie’ bondage range.

*Take action: Tell Westfield to pull Honey Birdette’s BDSM-p*rn themed ad

Contact Westfield ANZ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WestfieldANZ?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/westfieldanz

X: https://x.com/scentregroup?s=21&t=RcbohD8QJxBvbAh0SLE1VA

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scentre-group/

Let us know if you get a response.

We then got alerted by Facebook that our post had violated their Community Standards on adult sexual solicitation. We were even warned that our account may be restricted or disabled. 

Yet Honey Birdette's post (without blurring) was still able to be up on Facebook for anyone 13 and older to see. 

We disagreed with Facebook's decision and asked for an appeal. 

Our appeal was reviewed and our original post was found to not be in violation of Facebook's Community Standards and was reinstated. 

We (a small charity challenging sexual exploitation) were targeted by Meta (a trillion dollar company) whilst Playboy owned sex shop Honey Birdette wasn't.   

We have also lodged a complaint with Ad Standards and will update our supporters as soon as the Panel makes a determination. We encourage all community members concerned about the pornification of shop front window displays to write to their Shopping Centre management and to lodge their own complaint with Ad Standards. You can lodge a complaint here.

*Content warning

Six investment firms have (quietly) sold off their Playboy shares after our calls to divest from the global porn empire. They are:

Koala protection trumps safety of women and girls

Last year, we wrote again to a number of super funds invested in sex shop Honey Birdette's landlord shopping centres. We first raised our concerns with them in 2019, and called on them to divest from companies which hosted Honey Birdette's harmful, objectifying, porn-themed ads in their family-friendly shopping centres - read more here.