I have been following with interest all of the posts on lecturing when a
formula company is sponsoring the program. A few thoughts come to mind on
this as well as a book that exposes marketing practices for what they are:
plain and simple selling of products.

All of us who lecture have been faced with a decision about this issue. I
have been caught in this by failing to ask who was sponsoring a program I was
part of a few years ago. I assumed that because a well respected colleague of
mine had asked me to speak that her hospital was sponsoring the program.
WRONG! I ended up not eating the lunch and going back up to the podium to
state that I accepted no funding to come for the day. I gave back the check
in front of a stunned luncheon table.

ABM companies, like most others, compensate for bad behavior with conspicuous
good works. By aligning themselves with social issues, institutions,
organizations, or people who are breastfeeding supporters, the companies hope
that the credibility will rub off on them and their products. This is
innocence by association. By doing this, ABM companies hope we and the
consumer will lose the capacity to distinguish corporate interest from public
interest

Marketers hope their company will shine by supporting breastfeeding --- and
take our minds off the otitis media, diarrhea, allergies, infections,
hospitalizations, and suboptimal brain development that their products
promote.

Research indicates that 6 month old infants are already forming mental images
of corporate logos and mascots. By the time they are 3 years old, most
children are making specific requests for brand-name products. It is to the
advantage of any company in any industry to associate itself with an
organization which proves to be the first memory for many children. Witness
the association of Nestle with Disney and the Disney bottles that are
marketed heavily in parenting magazines.

Do not be fooled into thinking that industry literature written by IBCLCs is
anything other than innocence by association. Sponsorship buys invaluable
good will.

I found the book entitled, Marketing Madness: A Survival Guide for a Consumer
Society to be a dandy read. The authors are Michael Jacobson and Laurie Ann
Mazur from the  Center for Science in the Public Interest. It can be ordered
in the US from Westview Press, 5500 Central Ave, Boulder, CO 80301 and in the
UK from Westview Press, 12 Hid's Copse Rd, Cumnor Hill, Oxford OX2 9JJ