Now, I have a headache.
This is the reason that most advertising is created for the lowest-common denominator of the population. Some people, truly, can never take a joke. And it appears that post-pregnancy woman who "wear their babies" are a wee to sensitive for even the slightest edge in marketing.
The thing I noticed about most of the response videos on YouTube, is that they were made by women with a vested BUSINESS interest in the baby slings. All these ladies are pitching their Web sites.
Like most people who were faced with an angry mama, Motrin relented, pulled the ads and apologized. But just to illustrate that perhaps postpartum hormones might have played a role in fueling this controversy, read this snippet, particularly the last quote, from USA TODAY:
"By Sunday night, McNeil (Consumer Healthcare) had sent an apology to bloggers and on Monday posted a separate apology on Motrin.com. "We have heard your concerns about the ad," says a statement by Kathy Widmer, marketing vice president. "We are parents ourselves and take feedback from moms very seriously. We are in the process of removing this ad from all media."
David Smith, CEO of digital media agency Mediasmith, criticized the apology as sounding stiff. "Their current response looks like one from a committee, carefully drafted and oh so corporate," he says. "In a world where a bunch of blogger moms are commenting on (its) practice, a slightly more human response was probably called for."
(Offended moms get tweet revenge over Motrin Ads, 11/19/2008)
Lesson: There is no way to win a fight with a lady wearing a baby.
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I agree I think that Motrin picked the wrong group of consumers to mess with, big mistake!
ReplyDeleteNice pickup with the business plugs found in the responses.
ReplyDeleteI like the little lesson at the end of your blog. Ladies with babies should be avoided, but they also need to be able to take a joke. I thought the ad was pretty funny.
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