Offending Moms Everywhere. The Motrin Ad

I begin this post like most.. admitting I really don't "get" motherhood. I'm a big fan of moms everywhere, especially my Twitter Mom friends, but I'm careful to remind myself. I'm not equipped to understand being a mom.

That said, I had no problem seeing how the Motrin ad was offensive. Does any mom talk like that? Does anyone say "wear a baby?"

And they used the word "thing" in a way that could be construed to refer to a child. YECH!

You can read the flow of complaints on Twitter here

You'd think a big company like that could find at least one really mom to write copy or edit.

OK, so they screwed up. And moms around the net are talking about boycotts. So now we get to see the REAL social media power of the Motrin people. Will they ignore us? How long will it take for them to take the ad down?

I can't imagine that they will leave it up for long. What remains to be seen.. how long until they engage the critics? How well will they handle the apologies? Will they learn from their mistakes?

My recommendation would be that they take 2 Excedrin, engage the market, listen and respond.

Tags: ads, advertising, media, moms, motrin, revolution, social, to, twitter

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Comment by Warren Whitlock on November 16, 2008 at 11:04am: The idea to switch to promoting "baby wearing" (I still think of it as "holding the child you love".. the more the better) is great.

However, the real test will be whether they chosse to engage at all. "we're listening" would go a long way to improve their brand in the long term.

Comment by DeAnna Troupe on November 16, 2008 at 10:52am: I couldn't experience the whole "babywearing" deal b/c my daughter didn't like those things. She had to have a pair of arms. LOL. I do get how offensive the ad is. Calling a child a thing??? WTF? That's just awful.

Comment by KarenKramer on November 16, 2008 at 10:50am: I'm beginning to wonder if maybe it was all very intentional because the ad certainly is getting a lot of Press. This could be a case of "baiting" for publicity. I can't imagine that they would really be this stupid without having a clear agenda behind it all.

KarenKramer
http://www.parentinghelpme.com

Comment by threeundertwo on November 16, 2008 at 10:43am: My recommendation? 1) Fire the ad agency. The boycott backlash will be huge. 2) Promote babywearing through sling/backpack giveaways, ideally through Blogher networks or other mass-mommy sites. 3) Most importantly, apologize to mothers everywhere. Worldwide.

Shame on Johnson and Johnson. The line between "edgy" and "offensive" isn't really that fine. Somebody should have known better. Or at least checked their timing - it's International Babywearing Week.

Comment by Warren Whitlock on November 16, 2008 at 10:19am: Oops.. I'm not up to date on the terminology. I didn't realize that "baby wearing" is an acceptable or desirable term.

I thought it was only natural that you carry a baby. :) Which makes the ad offensive in to "baby wearers" especially.

Cool Baby Wearing Site