On 28/03/2006, at 10:44, Norma Ritter quoted an article about the  
branding and commodification of breastmilk for profit:

[ http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20060212-9999- 
lz1n12milk.html ]

> "... compared with a range of 15 to 20 calories for generic breast  
> milk ..."

I'm not going to repeat all that others have said, but just pick on  
this one carefully selected marketing term and its implications.  
"Generic", deserved or undeserved, has developed very strong  
connotations in the pharmaceutical world. To cast this product as a  
pharmaceutical (which is inherently problematic), then use the term  
"generic" as its opposite in this context: this says to me that  
certain PR people would like us to believe that mother's own milk is:

- copycat
- inferior
- deficient
- unreliable
- uncontrollable
- what you settle for when you don't have the cash to access to the  
original and the best brand-name product.

Lara Hopkins

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