Eleven years on from the start of the No More Page 3 campaign, which saw women’s rights advocates bring an end to the controversial topless pin-up page, feminist and sex positive porn pioneer Erika Lust is leading a campaign called ‘One More Page 3’… but with a crucial twist. Erika Lust has created what she describes as ‘the most inspirational and empowering Page 3 shoot of all time’, featuring a topless model without breasts.
Created to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, One More Page 3, created with the help of Cow Studio, normalises double mastectomies and celebrates body diversity and female sexuality. It is in direct contrast to ‘big and busty’ topless images created specifically for male gratification.
Lust is calling for newspapers across the country to radically modernise the classic page with a sex positive spin. The images feature topless model and breast cancer survivor Danni Moore and aim to normalise and shine a light on the diverse range of cancer experiences.
To support the campaign, the filmmaker is encouraging breast cancer survivors to share their stories on social by using #OneMorePage3 and tagging @ErikaLustFilms, generating awareness for breast cancer during the month of October.
What was the brief?
Erika Lust has been making sex positive, inclusive, cinematic porn since 2004. Her personal mission is to normalise sex, sexual pleasure and all body types and genders through porn, but most importantly, produce it for the female gaze.
There had been an ERIKALUST film called ‘Wash Me’ (2021), the first ever adult entertainment film to address a woman’s sexual rediscovery following breast cancer treatment and the team at ERIKALUST had asked us if we could develop an empowering earned and social campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
Our creative strategy is to find ‘ins’ where Erika Lust – as a sex positive pioneer and as the ERIKALUST brand – could influence and lead conversation by tapping into mainstream culture, all through earned media.
We looked at representations of sex, sexual pleasure and women, not only in present day popular culture, but also within ideas of the past that still had currency. As a child of the 1980s, the most obvious one was the Page 3 pin-ups of The Sun, a section that famously objectified women for male gratification.
In its heyday, it was part of the fabric of British life, printed in a daily paper that regularly had 12 million readers – 1 in 4 of the population. And it conformed to what, it was believed, men wanted when they turned the front page: a glamourous young woman with big, ‘perfectly shaped’ breasts.
These pictures were commonly pinned-up (hence the term) in workplaces for men to ogle over, and consequently, just like Page 3, women were judged simply by the size of their breasts. Times have changed. In 2015, as a result of the No More Page Three movement The Sun ceased publication of topless Page 3 shots, and in 2019 The Daily Star followed suit.
We considered what it would be like if we could reprise the format to create an empowering Page 3 shot for 2023, one made for the female gaze, where there are no breasts to be seen at all. We wanted to present a confident, happy woman that has undergone a double mastectomy, and then call for media to publish it, hence the One More Page 3 campaign.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
For women who have experienced breast cancer or undergone mastectomies, body image can be a difficult thing to overcome. Anyone can have an idea, but this was only made possible by getting a body positive model on board to inspire and empower others.
Having survived cancer, we reached out to model Danni Moore who had a double mastectomy following her treatment. Throughout the process she has chronicled her journey on Instagram (@the_boob_battle), taken part in media interviews, and sadly has also experienced trolling and abuse for sharing previous images of herself topless. Danni is the real hero of the campaign.
What was the production process like?
The production process was very simple. We looked at the poses, optics and style of previous Page 3 shoots and the Studio team at Cow captured the images in one morning. Yes, we did hair and make-up because we wanted to emphasise the glamour of page 3, but with absolutely no retouching.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
The absolute dream was for The Sun to run one of the images as a Page 3 in its print edition. That was never going to happen, but it almost did. Danni was interviewed by a features writer at The Sun for a big piece but it was pulled. Understandably, there may have been unease around ‘legacy issues’.
This was a low-budget, earned media project for a porn brand, so we couldn’t just buy or negotiate the space with the spending power and clout of a brand such as Dove or a national breast cancer charity may have done.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
Amongst the enormous wave of praise for Danni’s bravery and confidence, and for the ERIKALUST brand for leading this initiative, one of the most gratifying and amusing things was to see some of irate the comments in national online articles.
Some men were genuinely furious and offended to be confronted by such images under the Page 3 tag. Good. We set out to challenge misogyny and stereotyping of women for male gratification. We’re only heading in one direction, and those men have been left behind, rattling their cages.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
Danni is an inspiration and a role model to other people who have experienced breast cancer. The campaign celebrates and normalises the beauty of the female body in all its forms, and challenges taboos about how cancer survivors are seen and heard.
In turn, we hope it helps others to feel more confident. And alongside this, it’s great to show that a porn brand can do serious, disruptive work that makes a difference, rather than just being shocking or sleazy for clickbait.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
Around three months.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
This is the latest piece of provocative purpose work we’ve conducted with ERIKALUST. This campaign, thanks to Danni, took the brand and its mission farther into the mainstream, with pieces featured in the likes of The Daily Star, Metro, OK! magazine, Mashable and even BBC Radio in the UK, with positive global coverage as far afield as China and India.
Credit list for the work?
Danni Moore – Model and influencer
Mark Perkins – ECD, Cow
Dan Turner – Director, Cow
Samantha Harland – Senior Account Director, Cow
Hannah Jones – Account Manager, Cow
Romy Gardiner – Account Executive, Cow
Henry Streeten, Head of Studio, Cow Studio
Brendan Hodrien – Studio Manager, Cow Studio
Nigel Davies – Photography
Erika Lust – Founder, ERIKALUST
Eva Garcia – Chief Communications Officer, ERIKALUST
