Row erupts over 'breasts for shots' offer in top Paris night club

A row has erupted over a top Paris nightclub's offer of free drinks to women who bare their breasts for a polaroid picture pinned onto the wall.

The controversy surfaced after a shocked female nightclubber spotted a noticeboard with the offending snaps behind the bar at the Wanderlust club, in Paris' 13th arrondissement with an accompanying message in English reading: "Tits = shot."

Daggers are drawn on social media over whether the offer at the trendy club, with its panoramic view from the roof of Paris' iconic green fashion and design museum, was a sexist affront or a bit of festive fun.

Anne GE, the feminist Twitter user who brought attention to the practice, questioned whether some of the girls who took up the offer were truly consenting given the amount of alcohol they had consumed.

She said that the nightclubbing was also breaching their "image rights" by pinning polaroids of their breasts on the wall and called for "an end to the practice".

Her tweets sparked mixed reactions from - exclusively - male commentators asking what all the fuss was about.

"How about leaving people in peace instead of turning them into imaginary victims?," asked Armiche René. "You are mixing up feminism and intolerance."

What was really "disgustingly sexist", wrote another, Godi, was that he couldn't get a free drink for baring his "three-piece suite".

But others thanked AnneG for raising the issue, pointing out that the practice was prevalent in at least one other bar in Paris and Toulouse.

Management at Wanderlust reacted swiftly to the row, by offering a public apology and "firmly condemning" the practice and alleging it had no idea about it.

"The photos will be removed immediately and we are considering sanctions against staff concerned," it tweeted.

The row comes hot on the heels of controversy over a Riviera nightclub's offer of free drinks to girls sporting skirts shorter than 9in long.

The unusual promotion was offered at the Carré Annexe club in Saint-Laurent-du-Var. "The shorter it is, the more you get in return!," the club said on Facebook before the event last Friday.

In a publicity video, the club said that any woman wearing a skirt less than 10in would be allowed in for free.  Skirts between 7in and 9in would entitle the clubber to one free drink and those wearing a skirt less than 7in would be rewarded with a bottle of sparkling rosé.

Laureline, founding member of the Brigade Anti-Sexiste, reacted by saying: "There's a saying that goes: 'When it's free, you're the product."

Commentator Chou Kroute said: 'I think in the end the evening will be full: but only men! Girls will be dancing and partying elsewhere without being asked to get naked!"

Isabelle Steyer, a women's rights lawyer, told 20 Minutes there were grounds to prosecute the night club for "discrimination".

But the owner, Jeff, said he "regrets nothing" and added: "In that case, all night clubs that offer free entry to girls are discriminatory."