Unfortunately, television is full of formula ads, for both infant and
follow on formulas, and now for pediatric nutrition beverages (your kid
doesn't eat well, so he needs formula forever!). They are most likely to
run during programming that appeals to toddlers and preschoolers,
figuring that these children are likely to be big siblings some day, and
that their mothers are probably at least within earshot (hearing range).
On Public Broadcasting System (PBS) there are no commercials, but there
are announcements of the sponsor of each program. These announcements
have grown from just the company name in past decades to the company
name, chief products, and a slogan. (such as: "Barney is brought to you
by PharmaConglomerate, makers of Einstein baby formula, with
BrilliantAlgae fatty acids for a smarter baby.") That's a commercial if
you ask me!
There is also formula advertising in women's magazines, particularly
those targeted at pregnant women and those raising infants. There are
also "sale" (discount) notices in multipage, full color advertizing
inserts from large retailers that are distributed inside newspapers.
These large flyers contain all the special priced items at the store
chain for the week, and formula is often featured, usually on the baby
page with diapers, wipes, baby clothes, bottles, baby furniture.
Sometimes there are full page ads in the advertising circulars that
contain coupons for discounts on products. A few years ago one of the
abm companies (Mead Johnson) made baby cereal "with the goodness of
formula" that one could just add water to. They had a full page ad in
the Sunday newspaper coupon circular. That was a way to advertise both
the new cereal and the parent formula. Fortunately, that product flopped.
Formula companies also sometimes produce glossy magazines just to
promote their formula. Gerber (years ago when they started making
formula) produced a large format, full color magazine for pregnant women
about fetal development, using Lennart Nilson's photos of babies in
utero. Every other page was an ad for their formula, and alternate pages
were content, this design ensured that you could not just tear out the
ads. The photos were gorgeous, but I could not distribute them for
obvious reasons.
Formula companies also get mothers names from hospitals, and deliver
coupons and even a case of formula in the mail. I had my youngest at
home, but Nestle/Carnation still managed to send me coupons for free
cartons of follow on formula in the mail the day she turned 6 months!
So, you can see that in a climate where there are no controls whatsoever
on marketing (except for cigarettes), it's such a big deal that NYC
city hospitals banned the bags.
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC NYC
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