You won’t be surprised to learn that Honey Birdette’s latest campaign, ‘Bodyguard’ comprehensively fails the Campaign Bechdel test. If you’re not familiar with Honey Birdette, allow me to give you the crib notes: lingerie retailer; favours soft porn-style campaign photography; subject to frequent complaints against it for filling its store windows with imagery of pseudo-lesbo…
“Absolutely ridiculous. Control state, dictated by the elite.” This is the kind of reaction the ASA is receiving for its first rulings on advertising gender stereotypes. Harm reduction legislation has always fuelled claims that we’re entering a nanny state; little do we remember, even seat belts were once considered “taking things too far”. It’s not just people who prefer exiting cars through front windshields instead of side doors who feel attacked by regulations such as those created by the ASA. Gender stereotypes are not on the minds of the majority of the population, and organisations who ask us to evolve…
campaignbechdel.com 