Dear Marianne and everyone, I haven't read all of the discussion recently, but this is a point I've been meaning to take up for a while. *My oh my... Marsha... if you have such a hard time to explain to intelligent lc's like us what the differences are... something must be wrong. How do you feel about that...? Don't you think it is weird, that you have to be so highly educated about the Code to be able to know the difference between marketing and selling and to define whether something is a violation you should speak up against and adjust your way of practising to or not? Just the other day, someone said: "The Code has to be adapted to the present situation", meaning that bottles and teats should have a place, now that pumping is much more common. Different view... how about it? ;o)* Think about ....maybe salt. Something really basic that we all use. We know when we need some, we go to the shop and buy it. We don't worry too much about what kind it is, though some may have their favourite kind. We don't see ads for it on TV, on bill-boards, in magazines, etc. There are not money-offs, buy-one-get-one-free offers, no fancy packaging. Nobody gives us little sample packs. There are no brightly coloured 'shelf-talkers' to attract our attention in the store. We do not go around singing the jingle from the radio in our heads, our children don't recognise the logo. Yet we manage to buy salt when we need it and the salt producers manage to keep their businesses going. Why can't bottles and teats be like this? We could simply buy one when we need one. The Code is reviewed every two years at the World Health Assembly. So far the results - the Resolutions - have urged the governments of member states to get on and actually implement the Code! And have clarified some aspects. The Code is about *marketing and promotion*, not about selling botles and teats - and formula. If the Code was properly implemented and backed up by law, bottles and teats and formula (etc) would be sold like salt - available when needed, not pushed or promoted. And we as breastfeeding helpers of various kinds, we would be working with well-informed women and well-informed health care professionals, who had plenty of scientific and factual information about artificial feeding products - not 'free' lunches, cruises, conferences, manicures, air conditioning units, note-pads, wall-charts, pens, mugs, and so on. Think how much cheaper formula and bottles could be, if the companies didn't spend lots of money on advertising- and that cost comes out of the mothers' purses of course. Women and health professionals need information about pumps and the accessories, what different kinds there are, which kind fits which situation. They do not need promotional material, full of idealising language and misleading images. Every boy and girl in school needs to find out the differences between information and promotional material, to see how they are being manipulated by the marketing industry. If we become street-wise as consumers and as professionals, we will begin to take control of our buying choices - maybe a lot of choices would change! I remember hearing about a group of breastfeeding peer counsellors in training - their instructor told them just a little about how the promotion of articicial feeding works, and why less-educated women are particularly vulnerable to advertising, and how the companies prey upon that vulnerability. They were furious! They felt protective of their communities. This is a dormant power I think we could wake up! Not just women involved with breastfeeding support, but men who care about their families too - community leaders of all kinds. Rachel *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome