>I have a "Ginger Bread House" theory


I like it, Keren : )

I'd also add an observation that milk companies highjack the
iconography/imagery of breastfeeding, health and well-being and use
it to their ends - part of making the gingerbread tasty, I suppose.

They use

* images of nurturing, tenderness, love and closeness (see ads,
packaging and generalised branding)
* images of breastfeeding itself - ads in the UK in healthcare
professional journals (where it is legal to advertise formula)
sometimes show mothers and babies feeding, with a strapline saying
something like 'can you get this close?' or similar. Often, these are
not 'realistic' images - the mother and baby might be totally naked,
for instance, which at the same time as romanticising bf, also
undermines it by making it seem something 'impossible' to do
* images of energy and/or  contentment, with sweet and roly-poly
babies being active, or else  smiling beatifically or sleeping
peacefully

This also has the function of equating formula with breastfeeding.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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