The UK has seen several examples of 'clever' marketing  of formula in 
the past year or so.

  In the summer, Milupa ran a series of 'sponsored editorials' in The 
Independent, a quality newspaper, which dealt with routine babycare 
issues. The logo for Aptamil which adorned these articles was changed 
after a couple of weeks to the logo for Aptamil Forward (their follow 
on version) - an apparent attempt to make it 'legal'.  The possibilty 
of legal action is still being investigated by campaigning groups, 
but I doubt very much if Numico (the manufacturers) are quaking in 
their boots.

In addition, Milupa are promoting a 'breastfeeding helpline', a 
telephone service for consumers.

To me, it looks like part of a marketing strategy to place Milupa 
Aptamil as an upmarket product, distancing itself from the mainstream 
very slightly, to make it appeal to breastfeeding mothers in 
particular.  In the UK, bf has a defined socio-economic profile, with 
older, better off, better educated mothers being more likely to bf 
than others. Of course, the majority of them stop exclusive 
breastfeeding (or, indeed, any breastfeeding) before 6 months, and 
they are the ones being targetted by Milupa. Breastfeeding or 
would-be breastfeeding mothers (apparently) use formula (as opposed 
to ordinary cows milk) for longer than mothers who start off formula 
feeding, so this is a tactic that brings in long-term customers.

Milupa makes the most noise about 'closest to breastmilk' and 
promotes to healthcare professionals *a lot* . Anecdotally, it 
appears that when mothers ask their midwives and others 'what formula 
do you recommend?' they are most likely to say 'Aptamil'.

There are legal restrictions on the promotion of formula, and we 
don't have the issue of 'free' samples in 'gift' bags to contend 
with. The manufacturers do all they can to avoid or re-interpret the 
rules, and because it costs money to prosecute,  they usually do this 
with impunity.  In any case, even a fine is a drop in the ocean for 
large multi-national companies.

In the UK, the only possible prosecutors are Local Trading Standards 
officers - the same people who fine your greengrocer for fiddling his 
scales so you get one less tomato in your bag, or they go after the 
so-called 'metric martyrs' who won't sell in kilograms - and they are 
limited in the amount of public money they can draw on to prepare a 
case.  There is no national public body that can take the companies 
on.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK

(returning to Lactnet after a few months No Mail)

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