The Waikato Chamber of Commerce is under fire for suddenly pulling a website advertisement for women's health issues depicting a cartoon girl busting for a pee.

The decision is threatening to cause a storm among the business group's large female membership and has frustrated the businesswoman and physio behind the ad, but the chamber says the decision was a "governance issue".



The removal of the ad, the contents of which were provided under a contract by chamber member Hamilton physiotherapist Brenda Holloway, was ordered by new chamber president Tony Begbie.



Holloway, who specialises in treatment for women's bladder, bowel, pelvic floor and sexual problems, was the first advertiser on the chamber's new website which is calling for advertisers.



Her small ad on the chamber website provided a link to her own business website and was online for 10 days.



Holloway said she got a phone call just before Easter from chamber chief executive Sandra Perry advising her that the board - comprising five men and one woman - "urgently" wanted the ad, particularly its cartoon of a small girl squeezing her legs together, taken down because it was inappropriate.



Holloway said she had used the cartoon in her business advertising in "every Waikato publication there is" for 20 years without issue.



The chamber has 550 businesses as members, half of which are represented by women.



Perry confirmed she was instructed by Begbie to take the ad down.



She said the decision was "a governance issue" and that she was concerned about the perception of the move among women members.



She confirmed the request from Begbie carried urgency, and that she was told the ad had to come down before Easter.



Asked if the ad would have been pulled if it was for an accountancy service, she said: "I can't answer that because it's a governance issue."



The services page of the website is still carrying a section inviting advertising.



Begbie, appointed chairman in October, said the reason the ad was withdrawn was because the chamber had not finalised its compliance and standards policy around advertising on its new website.



He said the chamber had "gone to the market prematurely ... apologies around that".



Begbie said there had been no complaints about the ad to his knowledge.



"We dropped the ball in terms of systems and compliance," he said.



"I am putting new systems ... we need to do things properly."



He said there was no significance to the Easter deadline, and any perception of urgency could have been because "action may have been delayed".



He said he had no views, either personal or as chairman, of Holloway's ad.



"I'm not a website expert," he said.



"I'm setting a higher standard about everything - it's not about the ad."



Asked if all board members had been involved in the directive to drop the ad, he said "as far as I know". Begbie said he had "no issue" with the possible perception about the removal of the ad.



"There's no issue about perception, it's a compliance issue," he said.



The chamber as a business organisation had a responsibility to set a governance and compliance standard.



The new website was due to be reviewed by the board soon, he said.



Holloway, who had contracted with chamber staff to pay just under $500 for the ad to run for a month, said women and chamber staff had supported her advertisement.



She said pelvic floor problems were a "huge" problem among women.



"But because it's such an embarrassing part of the body people don't talk about it," she said.



Holloway had yet to be billed for the ad.