Great video and post, Katja, if Motrin is paying attention, your post offers some good ideas to try to rebuild the trust that was totally broken tonight.

Mocking their target market, Motrin not only offends babywearing moms, but all moms by saying we need to show off our babies as some “excuse” for why we “look crazy”. We may joke amongst ourselves about feeling crazy some days, but that’s something only we can do, not companies trying to get us to buy their products.

Hopefully they are actually going to listen to moms now…

Great job covering this. You have done a fabulous job getting the word out. I love how you utilize twitter to issue a call of action.
I posted and am linking to you:
http://mommosttraveled.com/a-devout-baby-wearer/

I can’t view the video since I live in a land of censorship (Turkey has banned youtube) but I’ve been following this story through blogs and twitter. WTF is Motrin thinking??? Argh!!!

Thank you so much for all of your hard work. Love the video and am using it on my blog now. I also linked back to your post to share what you wrote. Can not wait to see what the fall out is on Monday.

I think you’re overreacting. They are not attacking moms, they are attacking back pain.

I’d use my name but I’m afraid you’d start up a campaign against me for posting a different point of view. Is there any room in this discussion for women who do have back pain from wearing a sling? I think you take this ad way too personally.

Way to go, Katja!! I’ve linked you here today!

http://www.adventuresinbabywearing.com/2008/11/dont-mess-with-babywearers.html

Steph

Great post! I missed the tweets about it yesterday and appreciate the update. This should be a good lesson not just for McNeil but for all companies targeting moms. By doing a little research and plugging into the social media community, they could have much more effective marketing campaigns and hopefully ones that would not backfire on the companies.

BTW, I really did suffer from back pain after a 38 1/2 weeks pregnancy with twins, having a c-section, then nursing both at the same time, and carrying both at the same time for several months. I could give real life examples of why Motrin would actually be useful to a mom (especially a mom of multiples) at relieving back pain. Babywearing is caused much less back pain for me than just holding my twins or (especially) lugging around baby carrier/carseats. My husband and I used slings because they worked not because they were fashionable, vogue, or cool.

On twitter as JenuineJen

Thank you Anonymous for your different point of view, I truly appreciate you took time to comment here and I wish you will come back and comment more often, I welcome opinions that are different than mine. I would have welcomed this type of comments also in the video.

I don’t think the point here is that there is never back pain of babywearing and moms or babywearing moms would never need Motrin, and there is no reasoning behind the ad. The thing what upsets moms here is that babywearing moms are made look like they use slings to be “fashionable” and to look “like an official mom” or that babywearing moms cry more (of pain?). The ad is also mocking babywearing that “Supposedly, it’s a real bonding experience”, which in fact it is, and this fact is so close to heart for many moms.

Wow, I wasn’t online last night and really missed this hullaballoo! I can’t believe Motrin…no, wait, I can. I am not surprised, in fact I am surprised that it has taken them this long! I think it is really funny that they put it out right at the end of international babywearing week. What’s next, motrin for breast pain, yep, better not breastfeed! Ugh.

Thank you so much for taking the time to make the great video! Even my 3 year old sat there and watched the entire thing with me. If you want more feedback here’s my post:

http://www.alittlebitofgreen.com/2008/11/16/babywearing-saved-my-sanity/

Anonymous - There is always room for another point of view but please don’t insult our point of view by saying we’re overreacting or taking things to personally. It’s completely possible from your point of view for it to resonate and be fine and from our point of view for the ad to really really hurt. It just depends on your experience. I’m glad the ad didn’t upset every mom out there. However it was hurtful to a lot of us and we have a right to our feelings just like you have a right to yours.

I agree that it’s a stupid ad but I am not as offended by it as everyone else seems to be. I have definitely seem moms who buy pretty slings as a fashion statement but don’t actually wear their babies. Moms who see their babies as a burden, physically and emotionally. I think the ad was trying to be witty and original but it missed the mark. If they had shown the woman speaking and made it clear that this was an individual’s opinion, it might have been more amusing. Instead, it just seemed like a super irritating woman belittling something that many moms (myself included) consider very special and intimate. Not a great move for Motrin.

I find this Motrin ad simply belittling and insulting.

“Plus, it *totally* makes me look like an official mom.

And so if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why.”

Who talks like this? Yes, Motrin did miss the mark.

perfectly stated.

I’m wondering if we’ll get a response that is meaningful.

onlineauthor at gmail dot com

Wow, talk about an advertising FAIL. I’m not sure that an apology is necessary, but Motrin should definitely reexamine how they gather info on what will appeal to their target market.

This reminds me of those terrible Brooke Shields VW ads that seem to mock the very women they’re trying to sell to. So bizarre.

Great job, Katja. I hope Motrin listens to us on this and rethinks the way they handle their advertising. If they have an ad that’s supposed to appeal to babywearers, they definitely need to bounce it off a few of us before they make it live. They screwed up big time.

Btw, my daughter Ava was sooooo thrilled to have her picture of her wearing her babydoll included. She sat through the whole video waiting to see if she’d be in it. Thank you.

My video response is here!

http://www.newbaby.com/Baby_Expert+Content_Video+Response+to+Motrin+Babywearing+Ad

Steph

Thank you Katja for posting this video and blog. I am offended by the motrin ad as well.

Katja - excellent post. I think that Motrin - like many other companies - can no longer rely on the “Yes” Moms eager to please that they might utilize in focus groups during their campaign planning. In the age of social media, this won’t fly. Moms are savvy and they need to tap into the Parents (Moms/Dads) who will really tell them what they think about an advertising idea or how they suspect specific segments of the population will respond. It is time for Chief Mom Officers and / or Brands need to actively engage Momfluentials to keep a pulse on their customers. Thanks for this wonderful post and compilation video. I will be anxious to see if Motrin or their PR firm will respond. Keep us posted.

Women have been (and still are), wearing babies in slings on their fronts and backs for thousands of years. Look at the beautiful women in Africa. I highly doubt they wear their children to make a fashion statement.

What a ridiculous ad - I need some ibuprophen after watching it!! And it won’t be Motrin. I wore my son because it was the best thing for him and me - not because I wanted to make a statement. How ignorant. I’ll buy generic thank you very much!! Get with the program Motrin!!

Great video Katja!

Amazing video. Powerful post. Linked to you in my post on the same topic. Companies certainly make mistakes. They recover from mistakes. Hopefully, they learn from them. I certainly hope they do with this one anyway.

The thing I love about what has happened here is that our voices are heard. We have taken a stand and roared that it is NOT OK to patronize. It is NOT OK to act like you understand someone’s pain when you don’t. It is NOT OK to claim that you GET your target audience when you don’t. And… for mommy bloggers everywhere, it is NOT OK to sit back and do nothing. It is courageous and admirable to take a stand—especially as united as it has been—to come together and stand up for what we stand for.

Thanks for promoting this!

I wasn’t online much this weekend so I had only seen 2-3 blog posts about the Motrin ad and had no idea what an uproar it had caused.

I’ll admit, at first I thought like “Anonymous” up there did, thinking this might be just a few crunchy moms getting bent out of shape over a comment in a commercial.

But then I watched it. Am I offended? Yeah. I don’t like the condescending mocking tone they took towards baby wearing and I especially don’t like the implication that moms look tired and crazy and if you’re not wearing a baby you don’t look like an “official” mom.

Sure, there are a lot more people wearing their children now but to call it “fashionable”? That’s like saying seat belts and car seats are “trendy” because more people are using them now and some of the car seats are even kinda cute.

Anyway, I’m not too riled up by it, I won’t be firing off any petitions or organizing boycotts but it was definitely a bad move on Motrin’s part and I choose not to buy their products for my family anymore.

Well said Katja.

I think for me the take home point is…know your audience! Motrin made some big assumptions when they green-lighted that ad. And they just didn’t take the time, or the care, to find out what real live, real-world moms really feel. Across the board. They made an ad with what they thought was a “hip, sarcastic, real-world” tone that they assumed would appeal to us. They were wrong. And they were wrong about how important baby-wearing is to a large sector of the mom-community. That was a big oversight.

Honestly, I’m less offended by the content of the ad, which admittedly is silly, than by the lack of care given to exploring what we really think and feel. And what kind of content will really prompt us to open our wallets. Cuz Motrin, this won’t.

Great organizing! I’m not a mom, but I find Motrin’s campaign outrageous.

Thank you for the post and the video! I included your video in my post — I guess if we look at the positive Motrin has provided a lot of free advertising for babywearing!!!!

Motrin ad = epic fail

Whether or not I wear my child (I did sometimes, but more with the first than the second), I feel insulted by Motrin’s attitude towards mothers in general. That we are out there with babies as accessories, that anything about my child and how I decide to parent or care for my child is something to be made fun of.

Thanks for making this video. I don’t Twitter, so I had NO idea how it went through there. Maybe I should start. But I did post my opinion on my blog yesterday.

I thought it seemed like it was coming from another mom. All of the “supposedly” comments are probably not there to undermine the prevailing benefits of baby wearing which everyone (including the Motrin people) acknowledges and appreciates. It would be inappropriate and difficult for them to make claims of certainty in an ad: they are governed by the FDA and all claims must be backed up with controlled studies. I am in a similar business (biotech) and trust me, they probably started out with an ad that said something to the tune of “all research shows that wearing your baby promotes better bonding…”. They may have started out with that, then the lawyers on their PRC committee probably said, ” No way! You can’t make those claims about baby wearing, there are no well controlled US studies”! I experienced all of the benefits mentioned in the video when I carried each of my children (for up to three years of age). Including smiling as I went down the street just happy to be and feel like an “official mom”. It happens to be extremely fashionable (in the broadest sense of the term) to wear your baby these days. As a result baby slings and carriers have become a fashion craze. I know many women have several; seasonal, colors and textures, dress up/ dress down. Hey, if you can afford it! It is what it is; many moms found the video offensive, so McNeil must deal with that and act accordingly. Maybe they will consult with social media/marketing experts next time. Or maybe not; I wonder how this will actually influence there sales? When I showed the video to a group of women this morning, they said they would by brand name Motrin for the next 6 months to support J&J (parent company to McNeil); as they are a large employer of women and a very Mother friendly company. In fact, year after year Working Mother magazine lists them as one of the top companies for working moms. In this economy we should support businesses that make it possible for women to provide for their families. This is just my perspective. At the end of the day we are all aligned on the most important thing: doing the best we can for our kids, I appreciate everyones point of view.

Hey there! I’m an editor at http://www.bettyconfidential.com and I wanted to let you know we’re doing a story on the motrin ad–HOW CRAZY ARE THEY!?!?!? And we’re going to be linking that one video of all the mom responses on there. It’ll be up maybe tomorrow or Wednesday. If you email me directly later I can send you the link! Stephanie@comcast.net

Oops, sorry, my email address is: stephanieelliot@comcast.net

Yep, count me among those offended by the ad. I love babywearing, it doesn’t hurt my back, and they can take the “supposedly” and shove it where the sun don’t shine.

I fixed them and hurt makers of Motrin by using a natural alternative pain-releiver. In fact I will offer a bottle of it as a giveaway watch my blog for info

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Chris on Your comment is awaiting moderation. November 23rd, 2008 6:32 pm Jiminy Cricket, I’m a mother of three. Some of these Whiny women need to get a grip. It is unfortunately that mothers, doing the most important and hardest job in the world, feel a need to validate themselves by creating a cause when there is none. These women are the very reason folks devalue the role of motherhood. It is as if they are screaming, “look at me; I have value and I have worth”. For God sake, you do have value and worth; start acting like it. Congratulations to Motrin for making a funny commercial. Please do not pull the ad. These women ’s homornes must be out of whack. They are upset for no reason. I believe there ranting is due to their low sense of worth. A woman that truly believes she is doing the most inportant job in the world does not have to be so sensitive. God help us. To the upset moms about the Motrin commercial, listen up. You are wonderful. You do the most important job in the world. You are special. You are irreplacable. The world is better because you are in it. Now that we have gotten this behind us; chill out!