SMA formula ad in UK

[Claire and Boys]

Saw this earlier today:

http://tvs-worst-adverts.co.uk/sma-dads-promise/

Tons of people are gushing about how lovely it is but I really felt it was saying 2 things - 1 if you bottle feed your husband will be able to help and 2, more insidious, your husband will love you more if you bottle feed. Therefore clearly undermining breastfeeding,

Overall, pretty puke worthy. Thoughts?

They just about get around the "no formula ads for babies under 6 months" rule here in the UK, only by showing the SMA Progress can which is a follow on formula and by the little tag saying something like "breast is best" or similar. But I felt by talking about night feeding they are targeting new mothers. It did apparently get 109 complaints to advertising standards.

[missjessicajames]

the link doesn't work anymore

[Claire and Boys]

it works for me, unless it's country coded like some of the US ones are. What happens when you click it?

Another link to same ad: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/me...ss-817860.html

[beatee]

I hate this advert soooooooo much, and I can't believe it's still being aired. I naively thought it would get pulled immediately for blatantly flouting the code etc, but it seems that the end shot of a sippy cup and 'not a breastmilk subsitute, only for babies over 6 months' in teeny tiny print really does get around that. The whole follow on formula advertising thing really does my head in-especially as people just don't seem to get that follow ons only became popular as a result of the advertising loophole!
And yes, I very much doubt that many people do middle of the night formula feeds past 6 months... The whole thing is so cynical. And of course everyone falls for it, because dads being more involved in babycare and saying sweet things to their babies' mummy is unequivocally a good thing. I think there should be a pro breastfeeding advert along the same line 'I promise to bring you a cup of tea when you're feeding our baby, I promise to do all the housework and nappy changes so that, I promise to support you whilst you're getting the hang of breastfeeding and never undermine you, I promise to defend your right to NIP wherever you need to...' or something along those lines.
Oh, and the SMA tagline makes me crazy. 'for infant nutrition, trust the experts' (or something along those lines) Yes! trust the experts! Trust your boobs for goodness sake! I dont understand how that gets around the law either..
Only 109 complaints? Wow. Is it me or is formula advertising getting more and mroe common in the UK? (or perhaps I just wasn't hyper sensitive to it before!)

[calpurnia]

when dp saw this he thought it was an advert for breastfeeding at first! which goes towards my statement that it's such an insidious advert.

Originally Posted by beatee

Only 109 complaints? Wow. Is it me or is formula advertising getting more and mroe common in the UK? (or perhaps I just wasn't hyper sensitive to it before!)

109 complaints doesn't seem that few to me - they (bad ads) never get more than a couple of hundred complaints. & think about it this way - there are 3 of us brits posting in lactivism & none of us have phoned in to complain (i assume), but we are all complaining.

i also think formula ads seem more common but also wouldn't have been sensitive to it a few years ago, so not really making a fair comparison.

[Claire and Boys]

I don't remember seeing any formula ads on TV when my oldest son was a baby (4.5 years ago..) This last couple of years though it seems there's been a rash of them

[proudmomof4]

Funny how it is always o. k. to hurt the feelings of breastfeeding mothers like in this ad - while breastfeeding advocates can't be careful enough of their choice of words ever! :

[lrgs]

Originally Posted by proudmomof4

Funny how it is always o. k. to hurt the feelings of breastfeeding mothers like in this ad - while breastfeeding advocates can't be careful enough of their choice of words ever! :

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've really been noticing this lately.....why the double standard? It's so frustrating. Oh and when I say lately, I'm sure it's been happening forever....I've just tuned into it lately because I've started paying more attention.

[missjessicajames]

Originally Posted by Claire and Boys

it works for me, unless it's country coded like some of the US ones are. What happens when you click it?

Another link to same ad: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/me...ss-817860.html

when i click to play it says it has been removed...

[Claire and Boys]

Originally Posted by missjessicajames

when i click to play it says it has been removed...

Now the first link (the worst adverts) is coming up like that for me too but not the Independent link.

[RoseDuperre]

I'm not even sure what "follow-on" formula is - could someone clarify?

[Helen_A]

:

Its a version 'they' invented to get around the laws on not advertising *infant* formula....

:

[MaryJaneLouise]

The UK at least pretends to be WHO compliant. They don't allow artificial milk advertisements for children under 6 months. So, they pretend that formula is really "follow-on" formula, for when the child is too old to breastfeed :

[Claire and Boys]

Originally Posted by RoseDuperre

I'm not even sure what "follow-on" formula is - could someone clarify?

it's marketed as being for babies over 6 months