Lingerie retailer Honey Birdette says it was forced to censor an advert in Australia that would get the green light to be shown in the United States and Britain.
Eloise Monaghan, the founder of the company which started in Brisbane, stripped off for
the photoshoot herself along with her wife Natalie. The two women and a number of other male and female models feature with their chests bared in the photoshoot campaign dubbed fluid.
The models are body-painted in rainbow colours in a nod to the
famous Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras which is being held on February 29.
Monaghan said she could show the ad in her New York and London stores but constant complaints to the advertising watchdog in Australia forced her to censor the poster in her
own country. Monaghan said Australia used to be free-thinking but has recently become stricter which she says is frightening.
The Australian moralist group Collective Shout whinged:
Collective Shout has
campaigned against Honey Birdette's pornified representations of women for close to a decade. Honey Birdette has been found in breach of Ad Standards rulings 31 times since January 2018. Caitlin Roper of Collective Shout said:
Far
from promoting equality, this is an act of rainbow washing for profit. The company claims diversity while featuring flawless bodies and large-breasted women.
The ad has received an outpouring of criticism on Honey Birdette's
Instagram and Facebook page, including for profiting off of Pride and as a blatant attempt to cover up an orgy with a rainbow filter.
Collective Shout has supported a petition launched by Melbourne father of three Kenneth Thor
directed at CEOs of shopping centres which host Honey Birdette's porn-inspired portrayals which has attracted almost 77,000 signatures. Honey Birdette has a counter petition which we have been told by a source close to the company comprises a large
percentage of fake names added by staff.
Israeli authorities issued administrative orders shutting down three strip clubs in Tel Aviv, following State Prosecution guidelines under which lap dancing is claimed to be prostitution and buying it is a criminal offence.
Closure orders were issued
to the Baby Dolls, Shendu and GoGo clubs. The administrative order allows for the immediate closure of the clubs for 30 days, as police investigate their activities. When the order expires, in accordance with the findings of the investigation, the police
and prosecution can decide whether to ask the court to extend it. There is now only one other strip club openly operating in Israel.
According to a law enforcement source, after the guidelines were issued by former State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan,
the club owners were warned about the need to revamp their operations before being shut down. Prosecutors said in a statement:
The action was carried out in accordance with the state prosecutor's instruction regarding
enforcement policy against violations that are affiliated with prostitution, including the act known as 'lap dance,' about which it was determined that under certain circumstances it is a forbidden act.
Lingerie retailer Honey Birdette says it was forced to censor an advert in Australia that would get the green light to be shown in the United States and Britain. 
Israeli authorities issued administrative orders shutting down three strip clubs in Tel Aviv, following State Prosecution guidelines under which lap dancing is claimed to be prostitution and buying it is a criminal offence. 
