Really. And the timing too...Motrin must have been taking a little too much of their own product and been a leetle loopy the day they decided to release this ad right in the middle of International Babywearing Week!! Go ahead, go watch it if you want, or read this blog post or this one or this one, they all have the text... Basically Motrin came out and said babwearing is a fad, and I look cool when I do it, but it hurts, so I have to take motrin... Um, remember just a couple of days ago when I posted those babywearing myths? If wearing your baby hurts then you are not doing it right!! Watch some tutorials, have a more experienced babywearer help you learn how to wear/tie the carrier properly, or get a different carrier...motrin is not the answer here people!
If you are as disgusted as I am, feel free to go here and give them a piece of your mind. I did. Here's a copy of the message I sent them:
I am disheartened and disgusted by your recent commercial centered around babywearing. Clearly whoever came up with the ad is woefully ignorant of the truth about babywearing.
Babywearing is NOT a fad. It may be new in the spotlight, but it is not new to the millions of women who have been doing it for centuries. There is hard science to back up the claims that it is healthier for the child.
Wearing a baby is NOT painful if it's done correctly. Many parents have never been taught how to properly use a sling or wrap, or they have an ill-fitted pouch, and so yes, they are in pain. However the solution is not to take drugs, but to learn how to wear the baby properly! There are many groups and individuals who are working hard to educate parents in safe and comfortable babywearing practices. I recommend www.thebabywearer.com as an excellent resource for starting out.
I wear my 30lb son daily, and have done since his birth nearly 2 years ago. Sometimes I do tire of the extra weight, but babywearing has never been painful to any degree.
Therefore, I ask you to withdraw your ad, as it is full of lies, and respectfully suggest that you apologize for airing such a rotten thing in the first place.
I have to agree with TopHat when she said "Making fun of babywearers isn't going to get you their business. You've certainly lost mine."
WOW! I'm shocked at the ignorance that floods our society. I sent Motrin this comment:
ReplyDelete"I am absolutely disgusted with your -babywearing makes me need Motrin- ad. Baby wearing is NOT just a fad, people have been doing it for hundreds and thousands of years! "Supposedly" there have been studies done that show that babies that are worn DO cry less. Your ad if full of ridiculous lies and is demeaning and discouraging to those mothers who do wear their babies. When the sling, "shwing", pouch, or wrap is worn correctly, it SHOULD NOT cause pain. Maybe you would be better off promoting how to correctly wear carriers, instead of just telling people to pump their body full of drugs to deal with the problems. I am making the request for you to remove your ad, and put forth a formal apology for the complete stupidity that was shown by the company."
Wow! I would hate to be the guy/gal who came up with this ad right now. Did they honestly think they'd be attracting consumers with that approach?
ReplyDeleteGood for you for letting them know they were wrong, wrong, wrong!
I'm going to go put my two cents in as well.
I just saw that ad too. Annoying.
ReplyDeleteAdd me to the so-mad-they-could-spit list. And I'm not even a 24/7 baby wearer type of person. I just do it for going out, or when absolutely necessary at home. Baby just gets held or put down otherwise. And that ad STILL makes me completely livid. I probably would have been happier never seeing it, huh?
ReplyDeleteDisgusting.
I found this link at forbes.com:
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.forbes.com/sciencebizblog/2008/11/twitter-moms-si.html
Interesting.
They took down the ad and apologized!!! I didn't see the ad so now I'm really curious.
ReplyDeleteYou'll be happy to know they pulled the ad and have an apology on their website. They say that removing it from print will take longer. I don''t have a baby to wear, but even I was disgusted with what was conveyed in that ad. And during babywearing week? Crazy! I'm glad the masses spoke to get that stupid ad removed.
ReplyDeleteThe add just had a voice over, and the text scrolling or stretching across the screen...kinda boring actually. You can see the full text of it at a couple of the blog posts I linked.
ReplyDeleteoh, apparently you can still see it at you-tube...and if you follow Brasileira's link it's posted there as well.
ReplyDelete