Hey Mums, do you wear your baby as a fashion statement?
Moms in the US are up in arms about a recent Motrin ad, the J&J brand of Ibuprofen in the US.
The ad implies that wearing your baby in a sling hurts your back, buy hey, you do it because it is fashionable and "supposedly" good for your child.
Twitter Moms especially did not like this one bit. And in my opinion you shouldn't piss off a group of about 14,000 mothers that are active in microblogging.
After viewing the ad, I highly doubt that anyone who has a child was involved in creating it. And it seems that no one thought it was important enough to test on the target market.
I know a few moms that work at J&J here, and I can just imagine their reaction (it was corporate!)
J&J has pulled the ad off their web site, but of course the print version is harder to stop.
Here's the full text of the ad:
"Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion. I mean, in theory it’s a great idea. There’s the front baby carrier, sling, schwing, wrap, pouch. And who knows what else they’ve come up with. Wear your baby on your side, your front, go hands free. Supposedly, it’s a real bonding experience. They say that babies carried close to the body tend to cry less than others. But what about me? Do moms that wear their babies cry more than those who don’t. I sure do! These things put a ton of strain on your back, your neck, your shoulders. Did I mention your back? I mean, I’ll put up with the pain because it’s a good kind of pain; it’s for my kid. Plus, it totally makes me look like an official mom. And so if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why."
Take a look and let me know, do you wear your baby in a sling as a fashion statement?
Photo credit: Rosa Pomar
Ergo Baby Carrier | 8th Feb 10
I agree that the tone of the ad is all wrong and unappealing to mothers. However, they were right about back pain from slings, they just needed to create empathy with the copy and they failed miserably.
Moby Wrap | 1st Feb 10
I know that these carriers are pretty lovely and not only do they offer you the comfort, but also provide you with the ease in carrying your baby around.
Additionally, I liked the idea of wearing these baby slings and moby wraps as fashion statements.
Hand me Downs. | 2nd Mar 09
Using baby sling. I don’t think it as a fashion accessory. More over you are carrying your loved ones. It is not a fashion, it is a necessity.
Jane
Laura McIntyre | 28th Nov 08
Oh sure i wear my baby out of fashion – nope. In fact here (just outside Glasgow) i see someone wear a baby once a week at the most and its always with a baby born type carrier.
I wear my baby because it makes my life a lot easier , normally you find me carrying him and pushing my girls in a double pram .
Plus for those first few weeks when all we wanted to do was feed it saved my life and made cleaning possible
Jo Beaufoix | 21st Nov 08
What a weird ad. It’s scary that they think it’s ok to speak of a child as a fashion accessory. Very strange.
anna colette | 20th Nov 08
I agree that the tone of the ad is all wrong and unappealing to mothers. However, they were right about back pain from slings, they just needed to create empathy with the copy and they failed miserably.
Some slings I tried gave me shoulder pains, but I eventually found one that worked for me and I never looked back. Suddenly I had two hands free! I could cuddle my baby AND chop vegetables for dinner.
F.P.E. | 20th Nov 08
OMG! I cannot believe this ad. I carry my baby in a sling because I hate lugging around the car seat and it actually works out better, cause he’s a lot lighter in the sling and it doesn’t hurt my back at all. I have felt back pain from just holding him in my arms. I think this ad is ridiculous!!!!
Liz@violetposy | 20th Nov 08
Not with my Osteopath Bills! No I had her in a nice snuggly pram, and she’s now a sassy 5 year old who’s never clingy so I think she’s turned out ok 🙂
grzym | 20th Nov 08
#motrinmoms t-shirts:
http://www.zazzle.com/motrinmoms_shirt-235886181773091959
TooManyHats | 19th Nov 08
Motrin will regret that one. I could not believe the firestorm on Twitter about it – go Mommy Power!
Iota | 19th Nov 08
I think they got this completely wrong.
If you’re a touchy-feely earth mother, the last thing you want to be told is that you wear your baby because it’s the mommy fashion.
If you’re a busy mother who needs both hands free and you wear your baby because you find it’s practical, the last thing you want to be told is that you wear your baby because it’s the mommy fashion.
If you wear your baby because it’s the mommy fashion, the last thing you want to be told is that you wear your baby because it’s the mommy fashion.
And who wants to be reminded about the back-ache anyway?
You really can’t mess with a sleep-deprived, hormone-rich, emotion-filled audience of mothers of small babies.
Kelly from Almost Frugal | 19th Nov 08
The thing is, I kind of agree with them; wearing my baby *does* hurt my back! I wear them on occasion, when it’s more practical, but only in a backpack with a frame.
But this ad SUCKS! I’m a graduate student in marketing, and they are going about this all wrong. If they had said: you love to wear your baby, and she loves it too. But sometimes your back hurts because she’s getting so big and heavy so take Motrin! That? That would have worked. But the whole fashion statement and official mom thing? Blech.