Any-Mom » The Motrin Mess

The Motrin Mess

12.06.2008 | Author: OrganizerMom | Posted in Our Bodies, Our Selves

Unless you’ve had your head in the sand for the past few weeks, you’ve probably heard about the hullabaloo over Motrin’s latest ad. Motrin tried to tap into the mom community by showing an ad about a mom who wears her baby in a sling but has back pain and needs Motrin for pain relief. Here’s the ad:

And here’s a transcript:

Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion. I mean, in theory it’s a great idea. There’s the front baby carrier, sling, schwing, wrap, pouch. And who knows what else they’ve come up with. Wear your baby on your side, your front, go hands free. Supposedly, it’s a real bonding experience. They say that babies carried close to the bod tend to cry less than others. But what about me? Do moms that wear their babies cry more than those who don’t. I sure do! These things put a ton of strain on your back, your neck, your shoulders. Did I mention your back?! I mean, I’ll put up with the pain because it’s a good kind of pain; it’s for my kid. Plus, it totally makes me look like an official mom. And so if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why.

Moms everywhere are deeply offended by this ad. Condescending, insulting, ridiculous are some of the words used to describe the ad.

I suppose I should be offended, too, but I’m just not. And not because I’m not a slinger; I wore my baby for 3 months straight after he was born and then held him or wore him A LOT for the next 3 months. (Yes, he was the kind of baby who needed a lot of holding. In fact, he’s now 5 years old and is still a little snuggly bunny.) I had two types of slings: a Baby Bjorn and another fabric one (I forget the name) that held the baby horizontally across my body. Both had their uses. The Baby Bjorn was better when I was walking and moving about while the other worked better when I was seated. I rarely had back pain with the Baby Bjorn but my shoulders would freeze up with the fabric sling. I never bought any Motrin; in fact, I never took any kind of pain relievers at all because I was nursing and was worried about the chemicals leaching into my milk and into my baby’s tiny body. As I recall, my husband had to massage my shoulders after a day of baby-wearing—much preferable to taking meds! That, along with a hot bath every night, did the trick.

So the recent Motrin ad didn’t really resonate with me. It certainly didn’t incite rage. It just left me indifferent. I sort of shrugged it off as another dumb commercial. I think the problem is that Motrin just missed the mark. They made the ad about wearing your baby instead of focusing on pain relief. Moms don’t need to be reminded about the sacrifices they make for their children; they live it every day. The truth is that moms wear their babies because it’s convenient and it makes baby happy. And most moms don’t have a lot of pain as a result of wearing their baby, at least if they’ve read the instructions that come with every sling. It’s not that different than learning how to lift with your legs instead of your back – and how many times have we heard that from our chiropractor?

A far better way to handle this ad would have been to acknowledge that moms can often feel pain during the course of their day. This can be due to many factors, including wearing a baby, stress, lack of sleep, household duties, etc. And then the wrap up: “Motrin can help you be the best mom you can be.” Or something like that!

Which leaves me with a last puzzle. Why does the media still have so much power over us? Why did women get so incensed about this ad? By the time we are old enough to have children, we have seen thousands and thousands of commercials and advertisements; they are thrown at us every day, everywhere we go. Shouldn’t we be immune to their effect? Why did this particular one cause such a furor, touch such a nerve? Is it possible that the real issue here is that women have not settled easily into motherhood; that we still struggle with our multiple roles as parent, spouse, employee, and self? I think that the backlash against Motrin for their perceived insensitivity for mothers as baby-wearers stems from a deeper issue, a feeling that women are not supported or valued in their role as mothers in our society. I think that this is the real insult that women are feeling, and the Motrin debacle is a surface ailment.

Read more:
For the text of an alternative ad, see http://writingroads.com/blog/if-i-had-written-the-motrin-ad/520. Another great post on this topic is http://twitteromics.com/motrinmoms-how-that-motrin-web-ad-should-be-done.