What do you think of this ad?

This ad for nipple cream from Boots, a large pharmacy chain in the U.K., has attracted some protest.  In case you can't make it out, the baby in this picture is stretching the mother's breast into the next county.  The text at the bottom says, "For the first time in my life I wish I had three nipples."

In spite of the protests from from the National Childbirth Trust and Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, the Guardian reports that the ad has been approved the the Advertising Standards Authority.  The Guardian reports:

Complainants said the ads were misleading because they implied that sore nipples were normal when breastfeeding, whereas in fact it was usually due to incorrect feeding techniques.

The complainants added that the ad was misleading because Boots positioned its cream as the only product that could alleviate the problem of sore nipples.

They also argued that the ads were irresponsible, because they might discourage new mothers from seeking professional guidance about correct feeding, and offensive because they presented an "unfair and negative image of breastfeeding".

Boots said the ads were designed to look at a problem commonly experienced by mothers in a "light-hearted and humorous way".

In its ruling, the ASA said breast-feeding mothers were likely to be "reasonably well informed" about the causes of sore nipples through antenatal classes and literature.

I'm curious about your views on this.  Are the protestors right that this ad could scare women away from breastfeeding, or convince them that pain they experience is normal and dissuade them from seeking help?  Or are they giving mothers too little credit?  Is it just a lighthearted and hip look at what, unfortunately, is a common experience, especially for women who don't get good help early on. 

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Comments

[Ewokmama]

I think it's a bit humorous because it's so exaggerated but it is possible that it could scare off moms.

[Half Pint Pixie]

I don't find the ad offensive, but I also think its humour is a bit off, that drawing is just wrong! In terms of the ASA's response

> In its ruling, the ASA said breast-feeding mothers were likely to be "reasonably well
> informed" about the causes of sore nipples through antenatal classes and literature.

Yes, breast-feeding mothers are likely to be well informed. They're not the issue, they're already breastfeeding, it's the women on the fence who haven't made up their minds yet or the teenage girls who think "ugh that looks too painful" or the best friend who says "you're such a martyr, look how painful it's going to be". These are all the people that ads like that affect. And that is a lot of people.

This is my main issue with ads like this or on a similar vein people who say "But everyone know breastfeeding is best, the formula companies should be allowed advertise". The people who are well researched or well informed won't be swayed from breastfeeding by the advertising, but others might.

On a side note, as someone who had excruciating nipple pain at the start why on earth would I have wanted a third one, for even more pain? :)

[Beth]

I'm definitely not a fan of this ad. The drawing looks painful to me, not humorous. I agree with Half Pint Pixie that it's not breastfeeding mothers that might get the wrong message from this ad, it's the mothers that aren't sure about breastfeeding, and those that "tried it" but had really sore nipples & didn't continue. There are definitely better ways to market this prouct.

[Shannon]

First of all, I think it says something good about the U.K. that (1) a major pharmaceutical company is even MAKING a nipple cream, and (2) there would be a well-known ad campaign that addresses the topic of breastfeeding. Clearly breastfeeding is much more socially-accepted there than in the U.S., where people would be incredibly squeamish about ads like that. Also, I really disagree with the whole, "If it hurts, you're doing it wrong," argument. Yes, if it hurts, you might be doing it wrong, but you might very well be doing it right. During my breastfeeding class, I was told that if it hurt, I was doing it wrong, and then I was totally distraught in the hospital because breastfeeding was so painful. Finally a nurse said it was OKAY if it hurt. And obviously it is normal to have pain, or otherwise they wouldn't be making products like the one in this ad. I wonder if pregnant women are told that it shouldn't hurt because the concern is that people will opt for formula-feeding out of fear of pain, but IMO people are more likely to quit if breastfeeding ends up being more painful than they were expecting.

[Stephanie]

I don't particularly like the ad because it perpetuates the myth that breastfeeding "stretches out" breasts. Additionally, the ad focuses on the negative aspects of the breastfeeding process. I'd rather see something more positive, but I wouldn't necessarily draft a formal complaint.

[appelsauce]

I think the ad is adorable. And I think the objections are really an overreaction. My daughter had a fantastic latch from day one, but I still went through sore nipple hell for about two weeks. My midwife (who is also a lactation consultant) suggested I use lanolin salve until the situation cleared up, and she assured me that even with a correct latch, sore nipple are totally NORMAL (and totally TEMPORARY). She was right on the mark with her assessment, and I haven't had soreness since. So honestly, what's wrong with advertising for a product like this? It's not as though an ad like this is going to prevent health care professionals from encouraging women to seek out professional breastfeeding advice. You can't protect people from every eventuality, so you do the best to give them advice and make sure they know where to get help. And as for the rest, you have to hope that they have the common sense to look toward more than advertising alone when trying to solve a problem.

[Jen H.]

I don't like this ad at all. I've never been a fan of these pseudo-cutesy-yet-really-brutal messages. When I see a breast stretched out like that, all I can think of is excruciating pain. What does a stretched-out breast have to do with cracking, anyway? The message seems to be, "Of course breastfeeding is a drag and painful, and of course you'll appreciate our cutesy-snarky comments about it." I also don't like the tone of "babies are so cute except they're COMPLETE MONSTERS." This kind of ad really feeds cultural attitudes of breastfeeding being something annoying at best and super-painful at worst. When I have had breastfeeding challenges I have NOT been helped one bit by this kind of attitude. Give me genuine kindness and loving support any day.

[onetinkerbell]

I think that the ad is supposed to be funny.

I also think that the ad department at Boots should have run the proposed ad by a test group of women. Or at the very least run it by the women who work for Boots.

I suspect that this ad might have been the brainchild of a man whose wife had problems nursing. If so, he should have run it by his wife, too.

And I think that it's going to turn off some women to breastfeeding because it perpetuates the myth that breastfeeding is painful and will distort your breasts in awful ways.

I can see both sides of the argument. Boots was trying to make a product appeal to younger mothers and show them that nursing challenges are hurdles that can be gotten over. But I can also see that moms-to-be who are very apprehensive about nursing might see the ad as proof that they should formula-feed.

As a side note to this, actress Jessica Alba (who is pregnant) told an interviewer that she wasn't nearly as scared of the pain of giving birth as she was of the prospect of nursing. How many first time mothers-to-be will hear that and say "Wow! I think breastfeeding is NOT for me!" ?

[Maureen]

I think this ad would scare those on the fence about breastfeeding away from trying it. The stretched-out breast makes ME cringe, let alone someone who's never done it.

Ironically, there's no way their cream would do one darn thing for sore nipples anyway, since it's the latch that's causing the problem. (And a bad latch CAN really hurt, I know from experience, if you don't get help.) So now you're just mad you've dropped 5 pounds on the stupid cream AND your nipple hurts like heck....another possible end to a breastfeeder.

And the "scribbled note" look of it makes it feel like it's from your trusted girlfriend - sneaky. So, overall, a big thumbs-down from me...

[Tanya]

Great comments!

I'd say that 95% of me thinks the ad is terrible, for the reasons you voiced: sends a message that breastfeeding hurts, it might dissuade mothers from trying or from getting help if they had pain.

In addition, I think it's a little dishonest to suggest that the answer to sore nipples is a cream - a cream may help a little but it's usually a matter of getting a good latch, correcting a sucking problem, identifying thrush or a milk bliser, etc.

The other 5% of me is on the fence, mostly because of the women I see who feel totally betrayed by the "it's not supposed to hurt" line. Really, it isn't supposed to hurt, but most of the time women don't get good help with the latch, and pretty quickly develop some serious pain.

So, while I don't think it makes any sense to scare people (into buying a nipple cream, especially), I also think that the ad is a nod to an unfortunately common experience among mothers.

Know what I mean?

- Tanya

[Layla]

I am not offended by this ad. I, too, experienced sore nipples even in spite of "doing everything right."
What's more, is my little one likes to suck so hard--and try to pull off--sometimes that my nipple reminds me of the scene from "Dumb & Dumber" where Harry's tongue gets stuck to a pole and they pull like heck to get it unstuck!
Babies just do these things from time to time and we mothers are USUALLY smart enough to recognize that with childrearing, there often time comes a bit of discomfort.
I'd MUCH rather deal with these nasty little realities with humor than with a more cold, clinical approach.

Incidentally, I totally agree with Stephanie's reply! :-)

~L~

[Donna E]

I don't see anything offensive about this ad,it is what it is an ad for nipple cream,kinda cute & funny if you ask me,and you did!
On the issue of scaring new moms-to-be away from BF,I think that is where we pro BFers need to kick it up a notch in our defense of BF being best!
They made a cream & put it on the market,we need to get out some good ads,tender,funny,factual use it all and we need to sell our side.I agree with onetinkerbell,re: Jessica Albas comment- That does more damage at chasing away moms-to-be,especially the young ones.They look up to stars,as people with money and they can afford the very best for their kids,so if they'd rather use formular then maybe I should!
I have talked to every new mom-to-be I get a chance to and ask what they're leaning towards,and remind them breast is best,and that if they ever need to talk want pointers,whatever they can call & that if I can't help them I can direct them to someone who can.
I think we need to improve our ad campaign,not attack theirs! jmo
Donna E

[tara jean]

I am one of those women who, like Tanya said, felt completely betrayed by the line, "It's not supposed to hurt".

I had three lc's and my doula check out my kiddo's, latch, and they couldn't find anything wrong. My son just has a superhuman death suck, that used to make my toes curl and big fat tears roll down my cheeks every time he ate for the first several weeks.

And so, it hurt. And then the nipples cracked. But I made it through with the help of a super supportive husband, and a nipple shield, (that all the experts had said not to use).

At five weeks all was healed, and my nipples were properly conditioned. A year later we're still plugging on.

So I think the ad is kind of funny, b/c that's just about what my nipple would look like when my kiddo got through with nursing in the early days. And I think we need to give women enough credit to be able to filter that ad as needed.

You've had so many stories on here of women who made it through breastfeeding despite so many barriers. And I've seen that their common bond, wasn't the help they got, or the pain they didn't have, but instead their desire to be a breastfeeding mom.

I think the best way to convince women to breastfeed, isn't to harp on this line of, "it's not gonna hurt," but to move on and frame the argument to, "This is what you need to do for your child."

I think we need to be more pragmatic in getting women to have that desire to breastfeed. It's time to loose that weirdly angelic, soft-focus, picture of breastfeeding that doesn't apply to every woman. (I mean, after seeing my nipples in a pump while at work, all soft-focus images were gone). Instead, let's talk about the real nuts-and-bolts of what you are doing to benefit the health of your child and yourself, when breast milk is a child's primary source of nourishment. And let's start to be honest about how breastfeeding can be a challenge, but give women any and all tools they need to get on board with it.

(Arhg this is a novel. But these previous comments really struck a cord for me today.)

[mary b]

i don't like the ad but i think we have more challenges facing breastfeeding mothers and expectant mothers who plan to bf than this ad.

[MomOnTheGo]

I find the ad frustrating, in the head-shaking, are they are on our side (offering a product to support breastfeeding) or against us (making breastfeeding appear painful and damaging to one's body) kind of way. It seems dismissive and patronizing like other "women's issue" ads, with the exaggerated stretching and scribbling.