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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