I agree with Deena that formula companies have a great interest in
breastfeeding mothers, not just capturing market share from competitors.
The argument reminded me of the cigarette manufacturers' claims that they
weren't recruiting new smokers (even though Joe Cool is one of the most
identified characters by kids next to Mickey Mouse), just promoting brand
loyalty.
An interesting ironic aside about Ross/Abbott.  I was seeing a child with
an ear infection, and I found a flip chart entitled "The Middle Ear",
with a cute picture of an older child looking into a baby's ear with a
toy otoscope.  I did a double take when I saw a very familiar teddy bear
on the baby's tee shirt.  Flipping through the anatomic diagrams of inner
ears, I found that the sponsor was Biaxin (an antibiotic now being touted
for children's ear infections).  So now Ross has an extra reason to push
its formula, as it could directly increase the use of biaxin.  I wonder,
though, if the company realized the irony of equating its teddy bear logo
with ear infections.  Probably most people wouldn't notice anyway.  Happy
Memorial Day, everyone.  Alicia.   [log in to unmask]