Rachel Myr reminds me that breast pump companies are capable of employing the same marketing tactics to make us think that mothers need their products as artificial baby milk manufacturers do. For example, Medela had a wonderful bilingual handout on why mothers shouldn't share personal use pumps. They changed it to be included on a poster with a graph showing which pump each mother needs for her lifestyle. They're very slick-looking like the ABM literature and appear innocent enough but the message is very deceptive. Bravo to Rachel for calling them out on their tactics. At the ILCA Conference in Chicago many of us were invited to tour Hollister's corporate headquarters by invitation only. We were taken on several tour busses more than an hour from downtown Chicago and lavishly wined and dined on fabulous food from around the world and excellent champagne and wine. We sat in a theater and watched Hollister's new marketing video on "Birth to Breast". Many took a tour of the exclusive art collection on the premises. World renowned breastfeeding experts were there to chat with the guests and it was great networking. It was a wonderful gathering, but I left there thinking how similar it was to the ABM companies wining and dining the physicians. It left a bad taste in my mouth and I felt guilty for participating. I'm not sure if it violated our professional ethics or not but I think if you have to ask it probably does. We sometimes forget that our pump company reps are just that because we develop close relationships with them. Let's not forget that they're in the business of making a profit too and we are vulnerable to their tactics whether we realize it or not. Thanks for the reminder, Rachel. Linda Anderegg, RNC, IBCLC, RLC in Chicago *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html