Win! Orion Hotel cancels Playboy-themed Easter event

Last week we called out QLD-based Orion Hotel for promoting their “Playboy Bunny Party” for Easter. The event, held annually for the past three years, invited individuals to dress as Playboy founder and pimp Hugh Hefner or as Playboy bunnies.

A number of Collective Shout supporters made comments on the Facebook event page objecting to the promotion of a major brand of the global porn industry – one with a dark history of sexually exploiting not only women, but little girls too.

"Orion Hotel. No to your Easter Saturday ode to a serial rapist and child groomer Hugh Hefner. No to your attempt to portray objectification of women as 'fun'. NO x a million. Re-theme this stupid degrading event," wrote one supporter.

"A room full of people dressed up as a serial rapist- that's a hard pass from me and everyone with a speck of self respect and care for women and children. Orion Hotel - do better," wrote another.

"Take a leap into the 21st century and dump this theme Orion Hotel - and do better in the future. As in, don't trade on the objectification of women + sexualisation of girls."

Other posts drew attention to Playboy’s published nude and pornographic images of girls as young as ten, and pro-child sexual abuse cartoons depicting little girls as willing and enthusiastic participants, and even as instigators of abuse by adult men.

We argued that the event was not a "fun, nostalgic brand" - it is a corporation built on the backs on women and girls who were commodified for male pleasure. Hosting an event that glorifies Playboy is actively endorsing a company with a legacy of harm. In an ear where we are increasingly aware of the impacts of sexual exploitation, abuse, and objectification, why are we still giving platforms to brands that profit from them?

Within a couple of hours, the event had disappeared altogether, and we could no longer find any trace of it. We reached out to the venue to for clarification, and they confirmed the event had been cancelled and re-themed.