M&S change bra costs after social media pressure from 'Busts 4 Justice'

UK retailer Marks and Spencer are the latest big company to change policy in response to social media pressure - revisiting bra costs and announcing this today in a press ad headlined 'We boobed.'

'We Boobed' Marks&Spencer press ad

M&S have been charging more for bras sized DD or above on the grounds that they cost more to make. This 'tax' outraged Beckie Williams who founded a movement 'Busts 4 Justice' and promoted it through social media.

Busts 4 Justice gained significant mainstream news coverage and the Busts 4 Justice Facebook Group has quickly grown in membership - with thousands of new members and hundreds of wall posts added this week alone.

Busts 4 Justice Facebook Group detail (click for larger image)

Beckie also took to Twitter, promoting a London Evening Standard article to a number of celebrities with high followings, including Stephen Fry, Wossy and MayorOfLondon:

Busts 4 Justice Twitter outreach (click for larger image)

Until today Marks & Spencer continued to defend their bra pricing policy for larger sizes:

Marks & Spencer defend bra pricing policy in the Telegraph

but in the face of the growing online pressure, todays 'We Boobed' ad has promised price equality for all bra sizes, whilst using the opportunity to further good will by announcing a 2 week promotion across all bras at M&S.

This is another example of the need to Listen to social media and react quickly in the face of problems. Marks & Spencer have responded today, but will today's announcement repair the damage (and maybe gain some credit) or is it too little, too late?

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