Babywearing Momma
I am a babywearing momma. Ever since Mekhi was a newborn I have carried him. I own several carriers including: a pouch, a Bjorn, a Mobywrap and a Baby Hawk Mei Tai carrier. Each one has served me well and as you can see in the picture I still carry Mekhi. Last night on Twitter I was alerted by Jessica to a new ad on Motrin.com. The ad implies that moms wear babies to be "cool." and babywearing causes pain. In my experience babywearing does not hurt or require the use of pain killers. Mommas have carried babies for centuries on their backs- working and traveling great distances. I have even exercised with Mekhi on my back! My immediate reaction to the ad was that it is a poorly researched marketing campaign that is not supportive of babywearing. Clearly I am not the only one that feels this way.
Last night the ad launched a firestorm on Twitter, in less than an hour it was the no.2 discussed topic in the platform. Take a look at this video of last night's tweets compiled by Katja. Twitter is still running wild about the ad and my post is one of many in the blogosphere regarding this topic.
Ironically, November 14 - 18 is International Babywearing Week. I can only imagine what is going to happen as more mommas get wind of the ad campaign.
So, what can you do?
1.Visit www.motrin.com and view the ad.
2.Send an email if the ad offends you too.
3.Write a blogpost and alert your readers.
4.Ask them to take the above steps too.
It is my hope that Motrin issues an apology and retracts the ad. It saddens me that a company that I trust made such a poor decision with this ad. You can read more responses about this by clicking the links below.
Ladybug Landing
New Old Moms Club
Shake The Salt
School Teacher by Day, Superhero by Night
The Crunchy Domestic Goddess
Adventures in Babywearing
Deadlines and Diapers
The MacMommy
Crazy Adventures in Parenting
Small Dots
It's All About The Hat
Mom Most Traveled
Keep It Classy
Cindi
Last night the ad launched a firestorm on Twitter, in less than an hour it was the no.2 discussed topic in the platform. Take a look at this video of last night's tweets compiled by Katja. Twitter is still running wild about the ad and my post is one of many in the blogosphere regarding this topic.
Ironically, November 14 - 18 is International Babywearing Week. I can only imagine what is going to happen as more mommas get wind of the ad campaign.
So, what can you do?
1.Visit www.motrin.com and view the ad.
2.Send an email if the ad offends you too.
3.Write a blogpost and alert your readers.
4.Ask them to take the above steps too.
It is my hope that Motrin issues an apology and retracts the ad. It saddens me that a company that I trust made such a poor decision with this ad. You can read more responses about this by clicking the links below.
Ladybug Landing
New Old Moms Club
Shake The Salt
School Teacher by Day, Superhero by Night
The Crunchy Domestic Goddess
Adventures in Babywearing
Deadlines and Diapers
The MacMommy
Crazy Adventures in Parenting
Small Dots
It's All About The Hat
Mom Most Traveled
Keep It Classy
Cindi
ETA: This evening Kathy Widmer VP of Marketing - Pain, Pediatrics, GI, Specialty McNeil Consumer Healthcare sent an email apology to Katja (the PR maven responsible for the great Motrin Moms video) and Liz of Mom-101 (who happens to be an ad exec). The Motrin site is now down to retract the ad. But here it is if you are interested in seeing what all the fuss is about.
If you have ever doubted the power of Mommy Bloggers, please be doubtful no more. I personally am happy with the outcome of this "movement." A true example of advocacy at its best.
Kudos to all the Moms that spoke out.
Edited Monday to add: Motrin.com now has an apology up regarding the ad. Never doubt yourself, Mommies are powerful!
If you have ever doubted the power of Mommy Bloggers, please be doubtful no more. I personally am happy with the outcome of this "movement." A true example of advocacy at its best.
Kudos to all the Moms that spoke out.
Edited Monday to add: Motrin.com now has an apology up regarding the ad. Never doubt yourself, Mommies are powerful!
Comments
This reminds me of those terrible Brooke Shields VW ads that seem to mock the very women they're trying to sell to. So bizarre.
Take care and thank you for this post.
I did a video of moms' comments on Twitter about this ad:
http://www.ladybuglandings.com/2008/11/motrin-makes-moms-mad/
I love your photo.. it reminds me that I need to take a more recent babywearing photo.
I also have to agree with Virtularedhead on the Brooke Shields/VW ads. Really, what is that about?!
My thoughts on the Motrin ad ~ Advertising Gone Wrong ~ Twitter Moms Sound Off about Motrin
Thanks for linking to my post! :)
I agree. I am all for babywearing. I most certainly wore a lot of Miss J, and it had NOTHING to do with being cool, but everything to do with convenience and wanting to have my little one close to me.
Wear on momma, wear on!!
Isn't the uniting of moms everywhere amazing? I am loving watching us band together and take a stand. It'll be interesting to see how Motrin responds.
while i don't doubt that baby wearing is becoming fashionable (that's just the way things tend to go in our society), it certainly doesn't mean that it's *just* done to be in fashion. and based on everything i've read on the subject, not only is baby wearing *not* hard on the body, it's quite sensible.
adorable picture.
Steph
Greedy Corporate bigwig: How can we raise our sales?
Slimy Immoral Underling: Maybe if we can undermine the confidence of new moms. It worked for the formula companies and when the capitalist healthcare market decided to oppose midwifery.
GCB: Great idea! But who can we target?
SIU: Baby wearing. Women have done it since the beginning of time, but I am sure we can attack it from some angle-we can definitely go passive-aggressive...
I'm editing now with an update on Motrin's response.
http://mommosttraveled.com/a-devout-baby-wearer/
Okay, how cute do you and Mekhi look in this picture?!
Go mommy bloggers! Changing the world one post (and twitter!) at a time...
Speaking for mysself, I never experienced any PAIN wearing her. Women have been wearing their babies since the dawn of time -- how ridiculous is Motrin? Please.
http://www.coolmomguide.com/wear-that-baby