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Outrage at Westfield after Santa photo stand put next to lingerie ad

A petition is calling for Westfield to "show some corporate social responsibility" over a "hyper-sexualised image" that's been placed just 10 metres from a Santa photo stand in Victoria.

Melbourne woman Cathy Trew says high end lingerie store Honey Birdette "has hit an all time low" after displaying a Christmas ad featuring a woman in red lingerie with what appears to be a Santa suit in their window at Westfield Doncaster.

She also wrote in her Facebook post that the ad is placed no more than 10 metres away from a Santa photo stand.

This Santa photo display is about 10 metres away from a lingerie store. Source: Supplied
This Santa photo display is about 10 metres away from a lingerie store. Source: Supplied

"Myer has yet again proudly set up the Christmas scene kiosk for children to have their photo taken with Santa, about 10 metres away," she wrote.

"It's in clear view of this self-proclaimed adult sexuality store that has advertised with porn themes since it opened, with complete disregard that there is NO way for parents to avoid the kids seeing the store or windows."

Australian writer, speaker, blogger and media commentator Melinda Tankard Reist has also referenced the petition on her website.

"Westfield needs to show some Corporate Social Responsibility and stop polluting the public space with hyper-sexualised images," she wrote.

"[They're] borderline pornographic-themed displays of women in kids' faces and all our faces."

Over 52,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to "stop Honey Birdette using porn-style advertising in Westfield".

The creator of the petition said they realised the serious impact of the advertisements when their four-year-old daughter asked "Look! Why is she not wearing any clothes?”.

"In those brief moments, I remember feeling sad. Sad that my kids had to see these types of images and be exposed to adult concepts so young," the petition reads.

"The Honey Birdette posters depicting women in hyper-sexualised poses and various states of undress introduces concepts of pornography and sexuality to a hapless public, including little 4-year-old girls like my daughter."

Ms Trew said "this has to be stopped".

This is one of the advertisements that has people angry. Source: Supplied
This is one of the advertisements that has people angry. Source: Supplied

The Scentre Group, who manages Westfield stores, told Yahoo7 they try to "provide an environment which meets the needs and tastes of a broad section of the community".

"The retail offer available at its Westfield shopping centres is curated to meet these respective needs," the spokesperson said.

"As with all its retail partners, Scentre Group works closely with Honey Birdette to address any customer concerns.

"Any customer feedback - positive and negative – that is received by Scentre Group is always shared with Honey Birdette stores."