A raunchy poster that shows Santa Claus pulling at the suspenders of a lingerie-clad model has been returned to the window of a Wollongong shop, despite a complaint from at least one outraged mother.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Staff at the Wollongong Central’s Honey Birdette moved the poster from the retailer’s front window to a more discreet in-store location, some time after Wollongong mother-of-three Sue Hassler visited the shopping complex on Saturday.
But by Friday the poster, featuring a life-sized Saint Nicholas, had been returned to prominence.
Ms Hassler said the image amounted to “soft porn”. “We’re working [at reducing] domestic violence and that sort of thing, and that comes down to promoting respect for women,” she said. “This is just scummy stuff.”
“Then of course you’ve got the fact that there’s children walking by, seeing Santa basically in a sexual act.”
“I went into the store and said, ‘could you remove it, because I just find it quite disgusting that you would put that in the front window for the children to see’. [A staffer] just said, ‘no, but you can ring head office if you want’.”
The poster is only the latest by Honey Birdette to provoke headlines, prompting some to suggest their campaigns are designed to offend.
The retailer breached ad standards with its 2016 Christmas offering, which showed another woman in red lace smalls, with a bound and gagged Santa and the text ‘silent night’.
A more recent ‘office party’ campaign, showing lingerie-clad women writhing against each other alongside fully clothed male colleagues sparked the ire of feminists.
The retailer is also the subject of a change.org petition which calls for an end to its “porn-style advertising in Westfield family-friendly centres”.
According to Ms Hassler, “there is such a thing as bad publicity”. “I think that there’s a lot of people out there that will not step foot in their stores as a result of this – anyone with an understanding of the ramifications of this kind of stuff.”
A Honey Birdette spokeswoman described the campaign as “fun and creative” and said the brand was known for its “sexy, provocative collections”. “Our images, marketing material and campaign videos are a representation of our brand’s personality and products. Just in the same way any other retailer would display the products they sell.”