Johnson & Johnson Angers Moms With Motrin Ad
21 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // November 17th, 2008 // 8:22 am
Some moms say the health care giant has caused them real pain for running a tone-deaf ad and related content on its Motrin web site that appeared to poke fun at carrying babies in slings and pouches. The spot called this a fashion that mimics a bonding experience, but that using such devices actually makes those moms cry more than others who don’t carry their little ones around that way.
And so over the weekend, a growing number of mommy bloggers and other outraged individuals filled up dozens of pages of angry reactions on MotrinMoms, a new Twitter page created especially for this episode. J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare has since taken down the page, but the damage is done. Some are calling for a boycott (check out this new YouTube video).
PR consultant Katja Presnal, who apparently posted the video, tells Media in the New Millenium, how J&J screwed up: “They should have used a better test group and better experts to really know who their target market was. For example, I’m sure they didn’t expect these babywearing moms to be extremely tech savvy and attacking them online with viral boycotting campaigns. In one word, they underestimated their target market and that would have been easily fixed by using help of real life moms…A new campaign made with big bucks is not going to fix it - the solution requires something with a more humane and personal touch - the company and brand becoming part of the community.”
Hmm.. The power of social media. Here is the offending ad:
Colleen
Well… duh… those things ARE bad for your back and it’s a real strain. How dare this company point out how bad it is for your body and how DARE they offer a remedy for such pain! Bad company, BAD!
How dare you not validate these moms’ new accessories!
Sheesh. Get off the cross, we need the wood.
Alison
They’re not just accessories. In some cases - premature babies, failure-to-thrive babies - they literally help the baby grow. My own daughter was diagnosed with failure to thrive, and it was terrifying. Her consumption of food was so profoundly different once I started using a sling.
You can tell me to get off my cross, but physicians actually recommend this ages-old method of caring for infants. Do we really want to belittle it just to sell a brand of motrin?
Ima Misfit
It’s pretty funny that a “marketing expert” (PR consultant Katja Presnal)believes that these Moms had to be “extremely tech savvy” to access a blog and post a comment.
harpy
Mocking your demogrphic is not the best way to sell your product. They were aiming for hip and shot themselves in the foot.
Lisa Van S
J&J has antipsychotics for your infants. Check out the special Interest group, who Im sure rcves Pharma contributions and who promotes mental health treatment in Infants!!!!!!!!!
http://www.njaimh.org
Amanda
Colleen, these are not new accessories. Parents have been using them for hundreds of years. In some cultures, babies are worn on their mothers all day, every day. In those countries there is no such thing as colic. Imagine that?
nipsey russell
amanada and allison, what is your point? i wore my baby in a bjorn….and guess what, it hurt my back. why do we care WHY you do it, what matters is that we DO it and that it can cause back pain, so the ad makes sense. collen is right, get off your cross, your whining is annoying.
Bingo
It’s J&J shareholders who should be annoyed. Anyone who has spent five minutes on a mothering blog could have told them this response was coming. Whether slings cause back pain is irrelevant. In certain circles it was bound to be seen as the equivalent of advertising Motrin to Catholics for knee pain caused by excessive prayer. It’s advertising malpractice.
Katja Presnal
Ima, I agree - merely being able to post or blog isn’t what I’d consider “extremely tech savvy”. But what moms across US did during Saturday and Sunday required much more than just being able to post a comment. Maybe I should have said “social media savvy” instead of “tech savvy”, even though most mommy bloggers are pretty savvy tech-wise as well. This blog post wouldn’t have been even written here, if mommy bloggers weren’t tech savvy and able to distribute news via internet effectively.
The issue here is like Bingo said, it isn’t about does the babysling hurt back or not - the issue here is that the ad hurt several moms’ feelings and those same moms were the ones Motrin was trying to offer help in a form of a pill. This is about bad advertising and not listening your target market.
Ash
Wow! A company that makes painkillers advertising that they’ll take care of the back pain carrying a baby around can cause. Ooh, can’t let them get away with that!
This ad just proves that people are so eager to be offended these days that even completely non-offensive things become major rallying points. Don’t all those who are agitating for a fight over a non-existent insult have something constructive to do?
Lisa Van S
Ash,… And your point is?!!..
poiano
The response to this J&J PSA just goes to point out that there are many intelligent people out there with way too little filling their days. OK, I get it. You were a corportate lawyer and now you’re a stay-at-home parent with a baby strapped to your back and you have a lot of pent up Type A stuff still going on. Leave it. Just let it drop and pick your battles better. Pick them against fraudulent medicines in Asia and Africa killing people. Pick them against the killing and torture of civilians around the world. Pick them against corporate execs laughing all the way to the bank as their companies go bust. But don’t pick them against a company that is offering you a simple way to avoid back and neck pain (get it? Use LESS Motrin–their own product).
tweetip
1st Tweets ~ timeline & chart updated #motrinmoms… http://tweetip.us/lknkw
Sarah
I do think Moms overreacted to the add, but for many of us babywearers, babywearing is a huge part of parenting and an emotional issue, so it’s jarring to see it displayed as something that is merely hip and trendy.
And Colleen, my child is 30 pounds and I still wear him all the time with ZERO back pain; it’s all about finding the right carrier! I’ve heard bjorns are notorious for causing back pain.
Arecely
You might want to check out MOMbo TV’s perspective on the Motrin fiasco. I agree that some people got way too worked up, but MOMbo’s criticism of the ad is one that I can understand. http://www.mombotv.com
jojo
Well said Poiano! There are so many other worthy issues to for which ladies can wad their panties! But it is much easier to sit on a computer and opine about how their feelings are hurt! Like the commercial or don’t like the commercial- what does it really mean when there are people in Rwanda who are missing hands because someone hacked them off in the 90s. Spend your internet time rustling up funds for these victims so that they can live a better life instead of wasting time blogging about foolishness.
Americans truly have too much time on their hands!!!
harpy
This ad just proves that people are so eager to be offended these days that even completely non-offensive things become major rallying points. Don’t all those who are agitating for a fight over a non-existent insult have something constructive to do?
Such as bouncing around blogs and telling other people what to do? Get off your horse - we made you a ladder from the cross.
mak
How dare they suggest that any part of child raising may have painful moments. Everyone knows that from child birth to the day they leave for college, babies and children and everything associated with them cause absolutely no pain! I don’t think any pain manufacture company should EVER try to sell their product to mothers. I’m insulted at what they are inferring!
MT
The main thing is- don’t put people down and humiliate them in order to sell something. It is an ancient, crusty old way of doing business.
I never used a stroller for my 3 kids. Never needed pain med’s of any kind. Mothers all over the world carry babies next to them.
Minerva
poiano, you are right on target. What a silly thing to get upset about when people including children are going hungry all over the world and there are so many more problems to be solved.
Shame on those making such a fuss over nothing. No one is telling you how to carry your baby. Be glad it’s healthy and happy and devote yourself to more important issues.
Carol
I was struck by how many of the comments contained the F-bomb and “WTF”. Why is there so much anger?