1. Rita

November 16, 2008 @ 12:46 pm

I really didn’t find it offensive. Carrying a baby around can cause aches and pains, no matter what the method. I thought this was just an advertisement appealing to mothers and the new, hip mothering thing is babywearing (yes, I realize it’s been around forever, but it’s only recently been absorbed into the “mainstream hip” circle). Advertisers go for that sort of thing.

It doesn’t ever suggest that anyone should STOP babywearing, it offers its medication as a compromise so women can continue to do this (and it conveniently even flashes bold font statistics SUPPORTING babywearing) through any pain they might experience from it.

I’m sure our mothers (or grandmothers, depending on how young you are) endured similar commercials aimed at the trends of their era–aspirin for those pounding headaches you suffer from listening to your abandoned baby cry his head off in the playpen, laundry detergent aimed at removing stains from your clothing because the baby projectile vomited the chipped beef mush you tried to feed him when he was two weeks old, and so on.

I really didn’t find the commercial offensive, but I didn’t think it was particularly cute or clever either. It just had zero impact at all.

2. Amanda

November 16, 2008 @ 3:07 pm

They don’t get babywearing. It’s not about a sacrifice — sacrificing your physical comfort for the sake of bonding with baby. It’s about convenience. It your carrier hurts (I’m thinking Bjorn, ow!), then find another! Wearing the baby is supposed to make your life easier, freeing up your hands, allowing your baby to come along on your adventures. But, knowing that our culture is so centered what we THINK is best for babies, loosing site of the context (being WITH your baby), then I’d say the ad will probably be effective.

3. Rita

November 16, 2008 @ 3:35 pm

They don’t get babywearing. It’s not about a sacrifice — sacrificing your physical comfort for the sake of bonding with baby. It’s about convenience.

Ah, well, that depends on who you ask. The Dr. Sears crowd is all about it being a big bonding thing and that your baby should never be away from your physical touch. A lot of these AP things are promoted with fear-inducing measures. If you don’t do this, then you aren’t doing what’s BEST for your baby. So, you get the mainstream eager-to-be-the-best-mommy crowd getting in on things that used to be fringe and the mainstream advertisements follow.

4. Allison G_MOD

November 16, 2008 @ 8:08 pm

I have to agree with Rita on this subject. It wasn’t the best or most clever ad, nor the most shocking or controversial thing to air.
The narrator did have an irritating voice, but I didn’t find it offensive at all. And ditto on the Attached-Parenting scare-tactics.

I think we live in a hyper-sensitive era these days. You can’t please everyone all the time. And no matter what the subject, there’s always bound to be someone who gets “offended” (I’m so sick of this overused term!), and things need to get tweaked to pacify them.

5. Jessica

November 16, 2008 @ 9:40 pm

I have to admit, I don’t get it either.

Just because you’re a parent or mom doesn’t mean you have to be completely selfless. Moms have needs to. As a matter of fact, not only was I not offended, I think I could actually relate to it. After all,I don’t have to be a martyr to prove my motherly sacrifices.

Anybody have any Motrin? I have a headache.

6. Beth - total mom haircut

November 16, 2008 @ 10:18 pm

Has the ad been taken down? I can’t seem to find it now… from what I’ve read bout the ad I probably would be offended, just based on the misleading information about babywearing. It makes it seem like moms who use slings are doing it to be cool and hip, rather than for the benefit of mother and child. And then there’s the fact that a baby worn correctly won’t hurt a mom’s back. Did it seem like it would convince moms to not wear their babies based on potentially being uncomfortable?

8. Kelsey

November 17, 2008 @ 9:33 am

Okay, please no one throw rotten tomatoes at me, but I kinda thought it was funny and I liked it *ducking to avoid a tomato*. I thought that it was smart and clever. It was cute! And honestly, for ads that target my demographic, I dislike the Volkswagon one with Brooke Sheilds way more, this one at least seems to be trying to speak to me with understanding for my pain, as opposed to mocking me. Sorry All!

9. Cin

November 17, 2008 @ 1:01 pm

I knew I’d find like minds here. I don’t get it either. One of the remarks that got a lot of people worked up was the “what about me?” There is a notion out there that Moms have to be perfect. We are supposed to sacrifice everything and never whine or complain. We don’t even admit our frustration to our friends sometimes. But suffering just for the sake of suffering doesn’t make sense. If there is comfort available for me to go with that suffering, I am all for it. If there is something better than the sling bring it on. Until then, give me my Motrin. We are allowed to pursue our own enjoyable and pain free existence IN ADDITION to nurturing our children, aren’t we? So why get fired up over a mom asking “What about me?”

Also, are we able to have fun at everyone’s expense EXCEPT Moms? The backlash here is far more ridiculous than the ad.

10. Cin

November 17, 2008 @ 1:05 pm

dang typos. Was supposed to say “if there is comfort to go with that SACRIFICE… ” not comfort. Also, I don’t like the Brooke Shields ad either because I am married to an American automaker and I am ticked that she is encouraging folks to buy foreign, but that’s a whole different story….

11. Fear and Parenting in Las Vegas

November 18, 2008 @ 2:49 pm

It looks like the Motrin folks have conceded. They pulled the ad from the site and issued an apology. What’s the lesson here? Test your ads folks. What may not be offensive to a room full of twentysomething ad execs may ruffle a lot of feathers amongst your target audience. Sometimes being edgy gets you the wrong kind of buzz.

12. Hillary

November 18, 2008 @ 8:34 pm

There’s a lot more things in my day that cause aches and pains than wearing my baby ever did. If the baby is positioned properly it shouldn’t hurt. Then again, if you’re still wearing a kid when s/he weighs 50 pounds that’s a different issue.

15. Elizabeth

November 23, 2008 @ 12:05 pm

Make no mistake about it, Motrin creates ads based on focus groups, and tests them before putting them out. There are many, many mainstream moms out there who feel exactly the way that the ad suggests. Babywearing seems to be this new trend you’re supposed to do — it’s supposed to be good for baby — whatever, I’ll do it because I love my kid — but I’m not 100% sold that it’s necessary (my mom had me in a stroller and I turned out ok) and man, does it hurt at times. So Motrin heard that and pitched their product as a solution. Those women are totally fine with the ad. There is a much, much smaller group of women who are offended when babywearing is portrayed as having even the teensiest bit of downside, and who take babywearing really seriously. Those are the women who saw the ad and blogged about it. It’s not that the ad offended a large number of moms in general — far from it. It just offended a small but vocal group, that’s all.

Funny how that same set of moms don’t seem to get offended when nipple cream manufacturers pitch their products as a solution to the pain of nursing.

16. Elizabeth

November 23, 2008 @ 12:51 pm

“The woman sounds completely self-absorbed, and confirms this by saying, “What about ME?!”
Newsflash: It’s NOT all about you.”

Nice disempowerment of moms there, by suggesting that moms aren’t entitled to consider their own needs or even dare whisper that the babywearing is hurting her back and maybe she’s entitled to take some pain medication.

It’s not Motrin disempowering moms - it’s other moms who don’t dare let mothers express their own views.

17. Annie ( Property Estates ) Wagner

October 7, 2009 @ 5:05 am

Excellent blog this blog.imperfectparent.com well done and I was really pleased to stumble on : this it’s just what I needed to know.
It’s taken me literally 1 hours and 16 minutes of searching the web to find blog.imperfectparent.com (joke)
But seriously I am really interested in To Let Property normally and so I shall be very pleased to become a regular visitor

Thanks and well done!