The boss of a luxury lingerie brand has slammed ABC’s Media Watch after they called a gay marriage equality march a ‘shameless marketing campaign for undies’.
Honey Birdette managing director Eloise Monaghan hit back at the media watchdogs after the brand organised a flash mob of lingerie-clad women to take to the streets of Sydney to campaign for marriage equality.
After the show criticised the march in a three-minute segment, Ms Monaghan responded by saying ‘who even watches Media Watch?’, according to AdNews.
Models wearing Honey Birdette lingerie marched for women’s quality in Sydney on Monday
Employees of Honey Birdette carried placards and megaphones through the Sydney CBD
‘Apart from journalists, I don’t think people watch Media Watch. No one watches commercial TV.’
Media Watch host Paul Barry slammed the brand for a ‘shameless marketing campaign for undies’ disguised as support for marriage equality.
Ms Monaghan said the march for marriage equality brought the brand their biggest-selling week in six months in South Australia.
The march featured women carrying placards reading ‘make love not plebiscite’ as well as a ticked ‘yes’ box above the hashtag ‘marriage equality’.
Women dressed in black, white and red lace bras and underwear paired with suspenders marched from central Sydney’s Pitt Street to Martin Place as Australia prepares for a postal vote on same-sex marriage.
The goal of the flash mob was to empower women and celebrated women’s equality, according to the brand’s Facebook page.
In marching, the women were supporting the fight for equality across the board and hoping to engage and mobilise thousands of women and their allies in the political process.
Lingerie-clad women marched today ‘to support the fight for equality across the board’
The march was also for Ms Monaghan, who is a ‘proud member of the community’, according to their Facebook page.
Ms Monaghan is a lesbian and is married to a woman.
‘This is not a protest,’ said a Honey Birdette spokesperson. ‘It is a celebration of women’s equality, conceived by women, led by women and staged in the name of women.’
The flash mob carried large signs that said ‘Make Love Not Plebiscite’ and ‘Free The Nipple’
The main aim of the march to empower young people in particular to involve themselves in politics and generate non-violent action.
Honey Birdette streamed the event live on their Facebook account and posted live updates via Instagram stories.
‘Not only do we want to share the marriage equality message but the female empowerment message too,’ the spokesperson said.
‘There are three topics close to our heart – marriage equality, female empowerment and freeing the nipple!’
A group of Honey Birdette employees and models marched near Town Hall in Sydneytoday
Women from the Honey Birdette Sydney management team walked along Martin Place today
The controversial, voluntary postal vote on whether to legalise gay marriage is planned for August 12, if it not shot down by the High Court.
Turnbull has committed $122 million to the postal survey, run by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with ballot papers sent out on September 12 and due back by November 7.
Parliament’s upper house, the Senate, last November rebuffed plans for a national plebiscite involving 15 million people, with the Labor opposition, Greens and crossbench MPs arguing it would be expensive and spark divisive debate.
Several gay senators made impassioned pleas against the plan at the time, saying it would lead to denigration of their families and subject them to hate speech.
Marchers encouraged people to get involved in the political process by registering to vote
‘It is a celebration of women’s equality,’ said a Honey Birdette spokesperson of the flash mob