I’m sure most of you folks in the UK & Ireland have seen Cow & Gate’s latest tv advertisement with the laughing babies. It’s on YouTube if you haven’t (is everything in the world on YouTube now one wonders?). It’s been around for a few weeks now, but we don’t have broadcast tv so I only saw it last week.
Basically, it’s more of the same, only now Cow & Gate are essentially making a mockery of all the known facts about formula feeding. Formula fed babies are more likely to experience tummy problems, catch more bugs & experience a range of health issues which breastfed babies are not as susceptible to.
This ad is using “idealising imagery” to push C&G’s formula and with all the lines “Do I look like my tummy’s unhappy” etc. along with the voiceover is implying that formula is best for babies.
Now I realise they are advertising their Follow-On formula which, although it is nearly identical in packaging to the their newborn formula, is allowed under Irish Law, but if you watch this ad I think you’ll agree some of these babies look very young, and very close to the 6 month threshold. And we all know that Follow-On milk was only created to circumvent the ban on advertising formula for newborns.
These kinds of formula ads perpetuate the idea that formula is as good as breastmilk, it’s not, and it should not be allowed to be marketed as such. This type of advertisement is not a source of reliable information for parents, it is more akin to a Coke or Pepsi ad, trying to sell their brand based on a feel-good factor.
The argument that parents need advertising in order to be informed consumers just doesn’t wash, especially when it comes to formula, have a look at Baby Milk Action’s analysis of the claims of the major formula brands.
Cow & Gate are clearly doing what all of the formula companies are doing and are skirting around our insanely weak formula advertising laws. Do you remember the recent SMA ads that were on a popular Irish parenting forum? The FSAI were unable to stop those ads as despite the fact that they were targeting pregnant women, they made no mention of the word “formula”, so the ads were ok!
Anyway, if you haven’t done so already, please take a minute to watch the ad and pop an email to your relevant advertising standards group to complain. In Ireland this is the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (The FSAI handles all issues to do with formula advertising in Ireland) and in the UK it’s the Advertising Standards Authority.
The FSAI responded to my complaint with the following:
Thank you for contacting the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. We have received other complaints regarding the Cow & Gate advertisement and are currently looking into this. We will get back to you as soon as the matter has been reviewed.
In the UK, the Baby Feeding Law Group is actively monitoring the marketing practices of the various formula companies. Their most recent report was in May 2008, and is well worth a read (pdf).
As well as lodging an official complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority, the BFLG asks people to let them know about dubious formula marketing through their monitoring page.
The BFLG is coordinated by Baby Milk Action who are currently pursuing a complaint about this ad with the Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards in the UK.
This is all an uphill struggle, the formula companies have massive advertising budgets and are constantly skirting around any new restrictions, just think of SMA’s logo change last year!
If you’re reading this and wondering what all the fuss is about, please pop on over to IBFAN’s website and read their guide to the International Code, both Ireland and the UK’s laws are based on extremely watered-down versions of this Code.
Still though, a watered-down version of the code is at least a starting point, have a look here for some advertising from the US, which has no such restrictions, it is absolutely astonishing the claims that are made over there!
I’ll keep you all posted if I hear anything more from the FSAI, hopefully if enough people complain about these ads, they may be eventually inclined to strengthen the laws here!
disclaimer: this is not an attack on parents who bottle-feed, this is about the companies involved and their often-illegal claims & advertising methods!
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I have a friend who “tried” to nurse her latest baby. Now, with two kids with life-threatening food alleriges, you’d think she’d have been very motivated. She called several times for advice, and I tried to help. I sent her the number for a close friend eho is a breastfeeding support person (with real training and all!), I gave her every bit of support I could muster. And she quit.
Her reasoning was “his latch isn’t right” (she had used a pacifier from birth against all advice). And “It’s okay, though; I have that new formula that’s really like breastmilk!” I threw the phone after getting off of it as politely as I could and screamed “SCORE ANOTHER ONE FOR ILLEGAL FORMULA MARKETING!”
It’s so frustrating having to battle societal norms AND televised lies…
I saw this ad last night and thought of you, HPP!
That ad’s been showing on Scottish TV for a long time now. I too was surprised it was allowed since it’s basically laughing at what is proven fact.
Re your last post, hope your cold clears up and get well soon! x
Very interesting reading, thanks. It’s also been on Welsh TV for a while and all I’m hearing is “have you seen that cute formula ad?!”… growl!
HPP – I don’t know what channels you have available in Ireland but if you don’t know already there’s a programme on channel 4 at 10pm Tues 9th called ‘Other People’s Breast Milk’. The synopsis reads “… the pros & cons of cross-feeding, breast-milk donation & wet-nursing by some of the growing number of women who share eachother’s milk.”
Looks to be interesting but I’ve already encountered negativity on some parenting forums
@ Pixie L, it is scary how many people think that formula these days is as good as breastmilk. And the sad thing, as long as marketing formula is allowed, we’re always a step behind their latest campaign. In the length of time it takes to get a “now even closer to breastmilk” claim removed from a tin, how many mums have seen it and believed it?
Myself & Mr. HPP were thinking a few days ago that all formula should be sold in tins with plain white labels, and the words “infant formula” written on it, no ads, no claims, no cutsey animals and pleasing pastels, nothing except that (and the very scary long list of ingredients).
@Kate, thanks…I think
@ Kris Dove, We are on the mend finally, hurrah, thanks for the well wishes!
@ Sara, thanks for the reminder, I forgot about it! It does seem as if they’re going for a sensationalist angle but it’s Channel4, we wouldn’t expect anything less from them, would we! I’m sure they’ll find some really odd folk to include just to make the whole concept of wet-nursing etc. seem really wrong, grrr… Still though it’s good to see it in the media!
[...] 2008 by halfpintpixie I got a reply from the FSAI (Food Safety Authority of Ireland) today to my recent Cow & Gate complaint. And just in case I felt even a little bit special and listened-to, I soon discovered that many of [...]