Key Points
- A barge carried a giant blow-up breast down the Yarra River.
- It was designed to challenge "double standards" around censorship of women's bodies.
- The inflatable breast was based on a "realistic" design by Sydney-based artist Christine Yahya.
If you thought you saw a giant inflatable breast floating down Melbourne's Yarra River on Tuesday morning, you weren’t imagining it.
A barge carrying the blow-up boob was sent down the city's iconic waterway as part of a campaign by an Australian sustainable underwear brand, Nala, to challenge the "double standards" around the censorship of certain bodies on the internet.
"As women, we're sick of being told what we can and can't show when it comes to our bodies," Nala co-founder Chloe de Winter told SBS News.
"As a brand, we're really trying to do good. We're trying to make women feel good about themselves and make women feel represented through our branding and our messaging."
Since launching five months ago, Ms de Winter said Nala had received a lifetime advertising ban on TikTok and had been 'shadow banned' on Instagram. It also took the brand four months to be approved to advertise on Google.
"A lot of this is because of the way that we try and market ourselves as being really open and inclusive," she said.
"We have mesh products, so when we ever try and market them, because of the sheer nature of the products, you can see nipples, and big tech just says no to that."
Ms de Winter said while she understands there need to be regulations, it's adding to the shame that many women and gender-diverse people already have about their bodies.
"We just face issue after issue … like almost weekly, our videos get blocked just on our organic socials," she said.
"It makes it really challenging as a business, but also when you're trying to create positive change within an industry that traditionally has been quite non-inclusive in terms of body size and shape."
Chloe de Winter (right) is co-founder of Australian sustainable underwear brand Nala.
"Big techs have so much power, which isn't really fair, and so we thought what better way to get this message across than with a giant inflatable breast," Ms de Winter said.
"It gets people talking and starts a conversation, so that's what we wanted."
The inflatable breast was made based on a "realistic" design by Sydney-based artist Christine Yahya, also known as Pink Bits.
"We knew it was going to be funny to see a giant boob floating down the Yarra, but I think our messaging around why we're doing it has really resonated with so many people," Ms de Winter said.
"It feels like we're sort of talking on behalf of the community."
RMIT University marketing lecturer Amanda Spry said brand activism like Nala's "can actually affect change" in society, but authenticity "is paramount".
"The question is now, what else is happening around this activation, this messaging to really drive change on the issue of censorship, which in this case, also speaks to gender equality, and elimination of double standards across gender groups," she told SBS News.
"We can also look at what this company is doing to advocate or lobby for changes in advertising standards, so that it is not just beneficial to them, but beneficial to all of society.
"I think the other question here is that some people might say, 'well, they're doing this because it benefits them', like 'they want to have changes to censorship laws, because it means that they can advertise more effectively on these online platforms, which is going to drive sales'."
Ms de Winter said she'd be lying if she claimed Nala's sole intention with the campaign was to fight censorship.
"I am the co-founder of an underwear brand … but I think you can be both things," she said.
"The reality is that Nala isn't the only business that's facing these issues, there will be thousands of others."
In a statement to SBS News, TikTok said while Nala can no longer pay for ads to appear on its platform due to a violation of its advertising policy, the brand "still maintains an active presence" through its "organic" posts.
"Our efforts to create a safe and age-appropriate environment for all users include policies prohibiting forms of nudity," TikTok's country policy manager of trust and safety, Jed Horner, wrote.
"For example, content that displays 'individual intimate body parts, such as [...] genitalia, buttocks, breasts' is inconsistent with our advertising policies. These policies are established, publicly available and clear to prospective advertisers.
"It is the responsibility of the advertiser to ensure that all ads posted on TikTok are legally compliant, in accordance with our advertising policy and appropriate for our community."
In January, the oversight board of Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta instructed both platforms to re-examine their policies around nipple exposure.
"It was a great step for them to come out and say that they were putting forward these recommendations, but the proof is in the pudding," Ms de Winter said.
"We haven't seen any change, but I hope that there continues to be growth in the social pressure around these issues.
"Hopefully the big boob has helped push the needle."
SBS News has contacted Meta for comment.
