British chain abandons price uplift on big bras

Marks & Spencer hoisted the white flag in the "Battle of the Bust" on Friday, agreeing to stop charging a premium for big bras to placate an internet campaign by busty women.

From today, M&S will scrap its 2 pound (NZ$5) surcharge for DD-plus bras and will also cut the price of all its bras by 25 per cent for the next two weeks.

Britain's biggest clothing retailer announced the turnaround after complaints from campaign group Busts 4 Justice that large-breasted women should not be financially penalised for buying large undergarments.

M&S, which had previously justified the charge on the basis that larger bras cost more to make, placed adverts in national newspapers on Friday with the admission: "We boobed".

"It's true our fantastic-quality larger bras cost more money to make, and we felt it was right to reflect this in the prices we charged," M&S told readers.

"Well, we were wrong, so as of Saturday, the storm in a D cup is over."

Busts 4 Justice had been gathering appropriately large support online, with 13,500 people joining its Facebook group.

Beckie Williams, a writer with a G bust size who started the group last year after becoming frustrated that she was having to pay a premium for larger bras that did not apply to larger clothes (or heavy airline passengers), had threatened to confront M&S executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose at the company's annual meeting in July.

Perhaps concerned at the further publicity damage arising from the invasion of his showpiece shareholder event by a horde of formidable campaigners, Sir Stuart conceded defeat.

"We always try to do the right thing by our customers and we thought we had but it's clear we've got it wrong this time," he said.

- INDEPENDENT