There has been a lot of attention recently about a popular website having ‘formula advertising’ on their website. A spark that came a breastfeeding advocate who removed her nomination from a competition to win money for charity due to a conflict in her advocacy and not wanting ‘blood money’ from a formula company.
The ad in question is the similac one for infant feeding. When the campaign first launched this ad was visable all over the site as well as in the breastfeeding help sections. As a supporter of the WHO Code and an advocate for breastfeeding – at that time i had a big issue with this. Since the ad was placed in those particular sections it felt like it was marketing towards the breastfeeding community – looking for help & then finding that help from a formula company. Smelled wrong to me.
Since then – although the ads do still appear on the site – they are no longer popping up in the breastfeeding sections of the site.
The recent interest in the site for the same ad had me thinking. Is that particular ad even in violation of the WHO Code?
Does this break the WHO Code or just "bad" because it's Similac?
Well, from my understanding it doesn’t. The ad does not display any formula. It is advertising the help line, not their formula product. They are not toting free samples. No words, pictures or products idealizing the use of artificial feeding.
I know Similac is a WHO code violator. They like to target moms with free samples and coupons. However – I don’t think the feeding expert line is a bad thing. Families who use formula for their babies deserve access to answers on how to feed their kids – choosing the formula that is right for their child, how much to use, how often to feed, why he may be gassy etc.
What has me really scratching my head is WHY this ad campaign? I know that it is a slippery slope on what ‘advertising’ is ok – if the ad itself is not a violation and the program they are promoting seems to be valid but the company who is behind this is a known violator of the WHO Code – does that make it ok? Even i don’t really know the answer to that.
Perhaps if more lactation consultants offered knowledgeable advice for feeding with formula – there would be less of a need for a formula company to offer that. Or would that be fishy and seem like they had ulterior motives because the formula feeding advice comes from a lactation consultant?
This ad DOES break the WHO Code & is all over blogs
There are bigger WHO Code violation advertisements going around right now advertising on equally popular big websites. This Enfamil one for example -this is clearly breaking the WHO Code. They are advertising a contest but the words “patterned after breast milk” is a violation. This ad is a part of the BlogHer publishing Network which means unless you have opted out of formula campaigns this advertising will display on your site in conjunction with other ads in rotation. I am against this type of advertising.
Formula is NOT evil. Formula has it’s place – so do formula companies. I am against false and misleading advertising BUT i am NOT against support for those who choose to/need to use formula for their children. Like i have always said – I’m a breastfeeding advocate – not a formula hater. I respect the activist who withdrew from the competition due to her own advocacy beliefs but why the hostility – can a formula company provide information for those using infant formula without it being all about the breastfeeding moms?
What do you think? Is there room for both?
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: phdinparenting
September 13, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Devan,
First, a correction. The Similac ads on Babble no longer appear on the breastfeeding guide. They do, however, still appear throughout other parts of the baby section, including the Newborn Care Guide.
Second, with regards to the ad campaigns, I think they are both bad, but for different reasons.
The Babble Similac ad is presenting its employees as lactation consultants and suggesting that they can/should help moms (including breastfeeding moms) with their feeding problems. Moms cannot count on that advice to be good quality or to be objective. If Similac wanted to have a 1-800 number for formula feeding moms to ask questions about safe use of their product and put that number on their own website and on their product cans, that would be fine. However, I still think moms would be better off getting that information from health professionals.
The Enfamil ad is bad because it is comparing its formula to breastmilk.
Personally, I have yet to see a responsible formula ad. The Canadian government has found that deceptive health claims are pervasive in formula advertising, yet without regulation, they are powerless to do anything more than say “pretty please” to the formula companies.
Annie @ PhD in Parenting recently posted..Breastfeeding Advocate Asks Babble to Remove Her “Momination”
Twitter: AccustomedChaos
September 13, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Thanks for the clarification Annie – appreciate it & as always – love hearing your input!
As for what i understand the feeding line to be – they have nurses and dietitians available to speak to. IF you have a question regarding breastfeeding it says that they offer lactation consultants who are provided by a third party. I do believe that they offer this line primarily for formula feeding parents & have the lactation consultants available in case – but perhaps i am not as weary of formula companies. I would like to clarify – i haven’t called to speak to anyone staffed in the feeding help line – just going by what’s on their website.
As for the similac ad – do you think it would be okay for them to advertise a 800-line if they say is dedicated to only formula feeding moms or would that be in bad form too?
Twitter: phdinparenting
September 13, 2011 at 1:51 pm
I think the ads are directly targeting breastfeeding mothers. The ad starts with “Babies bring questions. We have answers” and is followed by a series of questions that roll through. One of the questions is “should I wake her up to nurse?” The others are phrased neutrally and could apply equally to nursing moms or formula feeding moms.
If the ad was “You have questions about our infant formula. We have answers” and at the bottom included the usual recommended disclaimer about breastfeeding being the best nutrition for baby, then I wouldn’t be riled up enough about it to write about it. Unless, that is, it was appearing right next to breastfeeding content, like this article that is flanked on all three sides by formula ads (not on Babble, but just to demonstrate what I’m saying): http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/10/07/wordless-wednesday-is-there-a-breastfeeding-article-amongst-those-enfamil-ads/
Annie @ PhD in Parenting recently posted..Breastfeeding Advocate Asks Babble to Remove Her “Momination”
Twitter: WyvTdQLiARljVi
December 31, 2012 at 4:09 am
Congratulations. It *is* a special day. Best of luck as you start your bridtsfeeaeng journey. Hugs!@Devan @Dionna Yes, I was quite impressed with her photography skills too. And the fact that she sought us out as subjects on her own volition.[]
Twitter: dadcamp
September 14, 2011 at 11:33 am
Some questions, not to be accusatory, just genuine questions:
I’m confused, why so much hate on Formula companies? Is formula the new tobacco? Why not spend your energy educating moms that breastfeeding is free (and for some) easy?
My wife tried and couldnt bfeed. She pumped, for nearly a year she pumped. She’ s my hero and I’m tired of lactivists campaigning against people like my wife.
http://www.dad-camp.com/2010/09/breast-is-best-but/
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Twitter: phdinparenting
September 14, 2011 at 12:00 pm
We don’t need to tell moms that breastfeeding is free and (for some) easy. They already know that. More than 90% of moms initiate breastfeeding. That isn’t the problem.
The problem is that breastfeeding isn’t easy for most. It is hard. Part of the reason that it is hard is the societal barriers that prevent moms from being able to meet their own breastfeeding goals, which includes the unethical business practices of formula companies.
http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/09/10/societal-barriers-to-breastfeeding/
Annie @ PhD in Parenting recently posted..Breastfeeding Advocate Asks Babble to Remove Her “Momination”
Twitter: randi094
September 14, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Thanks for this perspective, Devan. As you know, I formula-fed and this anti-formula talk is always a little depressing. I am so glad that my child is alive because of formula and she is a very bright child, if I do say so myself
. I also really apprieciated the free samples and coupons.
Miranda recently posted..Wordless Wednesday – Our Family
Twitter: notmommyofyear
September 15, 2011 at 8:26 am
This is interesting. I had missed this whole thing completely. Here’s my question, and it’s an honest question, because I may have missed something in your post or something obvious somewhere – How is that Similac ad (or really many of the others) targeting breastfeeding mothers (other than when it was on the babble site, under breastfeeding – that I get, and that’s no good.) As a mom who formula fed and had a gassy baby, I see that ad as a way to get answers about whether I should have switched Cole’s formula. In fact, when he was gassy and uncomfortable as a newborn, I spent time on the Similac site reading the ins and outs and of their products to get that exact information. Yes, I still called my doctor. But I went to the Similac site.
In response to some of the comments, why does the ad have to say “If you have questions about our product” as a marketing person, I’d hate that copy. It’s stiff and unnatural. They have the right to “have conversations” with people who need their products without being offensive to breastfeeding mothers.
I’m not arguing that other tactics are questionable or downright wrong. I’m not arguing that people who want to breastfeed should be supported and not offered formula on the first bad day. But those of us who researched, thought long and hard about how to feed our babies and chose formula because it was the best decision for our families shouldn’t feel like a product that’s advertising is out of line. Maybe that product is talking to us?
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