Looking for a formula ad

[mamabadger]

I apologize for using Lactivism for a personal request, but I do intend to use the results to promote BF.

I am looking for a particular magazine ad for baby formula. I do not recall the brand. It was a full page, colour ad used over the course of many years, although I have not seen it for a while. It featured a split page with a mother nursing her baby on the left, a mother bottle feeding on the right. (The BF mother was always in a dark bedroom and looking sad, the bottle mother in a sunlit kitchen and smiling at her baby.)

I have not been able to find an image of the ad anywhere, online or off. I would like to use it as part of a presentation to pregnant couples. Can anybody point me to a source? Reply here or PM me, as you prefer.

[Sweetmama26]

I believe that ad is the nestle good start ad! Let me see if I can find it

Yep found it!

http://www.nestle-baby.ca/en/product...alcultures.htm

[annettemarie]

Kathy Dettwyler did a great session at a LLL conference on breastfeeding and advertising. Could you maybe contact her?

[KimberlyD0]

Maybe I am blind... but the nursing mom looks to be in a pretty lit up room too (right by a window) and is also smiling..)

Actually a pretty sweet nursing picture.

Just wish is wasn't next to a FF one

[annettemarie]

I don't think that's the ad the OP meant. I've seen the one she's talking about. It's older ('70s? '80s?) and actively makes breastfeeding seem like something you do half naked and alone in a dark room, whereas formula feeding is portrayed with the mom in a snazzy outfit, smiling at her baby in a sunlit room.

In the session I took with Kathy Dettwyler, they showed a bunch of ads side by side and it was actually really obvious how they were portraying breastfeeding vs. bottlefeeding. I specifically remember that in one, the breastfeeding mom, besides being half naked in a nightgown, had no wedding or engagement ring, and the formula feeding mom had big shiny bling on her hands. One thing she pointed out was that formula industries (any company really) spends millions on advertising and advertising research. Nothing they do is by accident. Anything in those ads is there for a very specific purpose.

And while it is a sweet picture, notice the persistance in portraying the mom with her breast hanging out the top of her shirt. I don't think I've ever seen a formula ad that portrayed discrete breastfeeding. The message they want to send is that if you do this, you'll be exposed.

[KimberlyD0]

Honestly.. I never would have looked for that. Course I also don't SEE these adds here, they're not in Canada.

Sometimes though I think people look to deeply into these thing. Many moms BF with the breast over the shirt and actually this picture does a good job of showing how to do that and still be "discreet"

[Equuskia]

Originally Posted by KimberlyD0

Honestly.. I never would have looked for that. Course I also don't SEE these adds here, they're not in Canada.

Sometimes though I think people look to deeply into these thing. Many moms BF with the breast over the shirt and actually this picture does a good job of showing how to do that and still be "discreet"

Oh not at all. Like annettemarie said, companies spend millions of dollars in advertising. If it didn't work, they wouldn't do it. Lots of advertising is very subliminal. Why do you think formula companies practically had a riot when some hospitals starting implementing the "Ban the Bags" campaign? Because it's an easy way to advertise to new mothers under the guise of a "free gift". Because they knew that mothers were more likely to choose their brand if they got the bag at the hospital. Let's say they spend $10 a bag. Mother chooses their brand. Mother will spend from 2500-4000 dollars for formula. That's a pretty damn good ROI if you ask me.

[onlygirls]

The link posted above is for Canadian residents. There is a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen. That site seems a lot more supportive of breastfeeding.

Breast milk is the most nutritionally complete food you can give your baby. That's why experts recommend exclusive breast-feeding for the first 6 months of your baby's life, with continued breast-feeding up to 2 years of age and on, or for as long as you can. "The information on this site is intended for Canadian residents only."

http://www.nestle-baby.ca/en/BreastFeeding.htm

I went to the US site and this was their statement about breastfeeding:

Breastfeeding is ideal nutrition for your baby's first year. The AAP recommends that you continue breastfeeding even as you introduce iron-rich solid foods during the middle of that first year. If you do wean your baby before age 1, don’t wean him to cow’s milk but to iron-fortified infant formula.

[annettemarie]

Also, keeping in mind that this is the Lactivism forum , I don't think there's any such thing as "looking too closely" at how formula companies advertise. They have zero interest in promoting breastfeeding. And this isn't conjecture, it's fact. I highly recommend that all Lactivists should read Milk, Money, and Madness for a very real look at how the formula industry actively undermines breastfeeding.


Just because you don't look for it doesn't mean it's not there. As a matter of fact, advertising of any product counts on people being pretty clueless about subtext.

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by onlygirls

"The information on this site is intended for Canadian residents only."

Oh, I get it now... breastfeeding is only idea IN CANADA! My bad.

[onlygirls]

I hope that came across right...I was surprised that they had totally different websites and I found the Canadian one more BF friendly with breastfeeding pictures where the US one had no pictures of breastfeeding.

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by onlygirls

I hope that came across right...I was surprised that they had totally different websites and I found the Canadian one more BF friendly with breastfeeding pictures where the US one had no pictures of breastfeeding.

Oh, I think you made your point wonderfully. It's amazing how different the message is when they're actually constrained by the law. I hope my statement didn't come across like I was snarking at you. I think you're great! I was snarking at Nestle.

[onlygirls]

[mamabadger]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I don't think that's the ad the OP meant. I've seen the one she's talking about. It's older ('70s? '80s?) and actively makes breastfeeding seem like something you do half naked and alone in a dark room, whereas formula feeding is portrayed with the mom in a snazzy outfit, smiling at her baby in a sunlit room.

Yes, that is the one I mean. It was from quite a few years ago. One thing Dr. Newman pointed out is that the bottle feeding mother is always seen to be wearing a wedding band, while the BF mother has none.

I am going to give Kathy Dettwyler a try - thanks Annettemarie.

[Sweetmama26]

Sorry I thought the one I posted was the one you meant. I had no idea we had different ad's in Canada lol.

[KimberlyD0]

I didn't know that either, since we DON'T have them. Not on TV, mags, radio, no free gift bags. Nothing. Only if you go to the actual web sights. I never relised how wide spred they are in the US.

All you see here is BF adds

Ask parents here in my city what formula's to use, or the benifits, and they would look at you like your nuts. You only see formula in the stores or if other moms use it.

Thats where I get tjhe "look to closely" mentality I guess. In Canada its pretty strait forward so I didn't relise they did that in the US. I appologise for not knowing that.

[Amatullah0]

Wow! It's so amazing how they market -- they seem to take such completely different stances in different countries! I was looking around on the other country sites and in Spain they assume you've been nursing for a few months, and that now is a great time to introduce formula, so your baby gets a "different kind of milk"

wow. just wow.

[proudmomof4]

For folks who understand German: www.hipp.de is also a site / sight to behold! (Note the trust-inducing Bavarian "Jankerl" jacket - who wouldn't like him for a grandpa! )

[tinybutterfly]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I highly recommend that all Lactivists should read Milk, Money, and Madness for a very real look at how the formula industry actively undermines breastfeeding.

I'll add this to my "to read" list of books.

[mamabadger]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I highly recommend that all Lactivists should read Milk, Money, and Madness for a very real look at how the formula industry actively undermines breastfeeding..

Definitely, and also The Politics of Breastfeeding by Gabrielle Palmer.