The Motrin website is running a commercial or “Mom-Alogue” that makes babywearing seem like a painful, unpleasant thing done only for vanity. The first line of the commercial is, “Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion.” Here is another quote, “It TOTALLY makes me look like an official mom.”
I just loved wearing both of my kids in the BabyBjörn and Hip Hammock. It had nothing to do with being trendy and everything to do with comfort and convenience for my baby and myself. As long as I adjusted my babycarrier properly, I did not need any pain medication because of it.
The online babywearing community is outraged and vows never to buy Motrin brand ibuprofen again. Barb, a babywearer and former Motrin user, posted a transcript of the commercial on her blog. Jessica believes that Motrin is picking on fragile, new moms thus angering many moms.
I have not purchased any Motrin brand products recently, and I do not plan to in the future. There are many other brands and generic options available for both adults and children that work just as well, and are often a lot less expensive.
Update 11/17/08:
Motrin and it’s parent company McNeil Consumer Healthcare have heard the voices of the many outraged moms who have e-mailed, blogged, twittered, etc.
The Motrin.com site went down sometime on Sunday, November 16th. As of Monday evening, the following message replaced the controversial Mom-Alogue:
“With regard to the recent Motrin advertisement, we have heard you.
On behalf of McNeil Consumer Healthcare and all of us who work on the Motrin Brand, please accept our sincere apology.
We have heard your concerns about the ad that was featured on our website. We are parents ourselves and we take feedback from moms very seriously.
We are in the process of removing this ad from all media. It will, unfortunately, take a bit of time to remove it from our magazine advertising, as it is on newstands and in distribution.
Thank you for your feedback. It’s very important to us.”
Sincerely,
Kathy Widmer
Vice President of Marketing,
McNeil Consumer Healthcare
