AUCKLAND - A parade of topless, motorcycle-riding strippers scheduled to take place in Auckland this month has been cancelled to preserve the Rugby World Cup's family atmosphere, organisers said Monday.
Sex industry entrepreneur Steve Crow has organised "Boobs on Bikes" parades, featuring topless strippers and porn stars riding pillion on motorcycles, in cities across New Zealand for the past eight years.
The next event was scheduled for Auckland on September 24, coinciding with a crunch pool match pitting the All Blacks against France at the Eden Park stadium in New Zealand's largest city.
Crow planned to have 20 topless women, each featuring bodypaint in the colours of a World Cup team, ride through the city centre ahead of the match.
But the businessman announced on Monday that he was cancelling the parade, saying there had been a public backlash against the idea of linking nudity to the World Cup, the largest event ever staged in New Zealand.
"For the first time in the history of boobs on bikes, the tide of public opinion is most definitely against us holding this event at the date and time proposed due to the 'family nature' of the big rugby thingy that is happening all over N.Z. at this time," he said in a statement.
Crow cited an online poll which showed 68 per cent of respondents did not want the parade to proceed during the World Cup.
'Boobs on bikes' cancelled for Rugby World Cup
