Government Won’t Scare You With The Truth….
This has bugged me since I first heard about it. We have all seen graphic billboards about the dangers of drunk driving, drugs, and cigarettes. All of them seem to try and scare you into a certain healthier behavior. Well, our government has softened pro breastfeeding ads in the last few years. In 2007, the government was going to run ads of asthma inhalers and syringes with bottle tops on them, explaining that breastfed babies are less likely to have respiratory problems and develop diabetes. They softened the ads to show pictures of dandelions and ice cream instead. Apparently, they didn’t want to scare new mothers. What the heck?? They have no problem scarring everyone else. Here is the link to the Washington post article complete with the ads: Softening A Message - Washington Post
This was not the first time and most likely won’t be the last time that a breastfeeding campaign has been softened. In 2006 two ads showing pregnant woman on logs and riding mechanical bulls stirred up a lot of controversy. I believe this campaign was cut short. Check out the TV commercials yourself:
- http://www.4woman.gov/breastfeeding/adcouncil/CNBA4130-E01NY.mpg
- http://www.4woman.gov/breastfeeding/adcouncil/CNBA4230-E01NY.mpg
Another big problem is that the formula companies have gotten mad. How dare the government encourage the healthier option when they might lose money? Funny, I think the big tobacco companies have been crying about the same thing. Maybe thats it, maybe we need a bunch of overweight adults who were formula fed as babies to sue formula companies. Honestly, I don’t think formula is as bad as cigarettes but the thing is for most people, formula does not have to be an option. There are some exceptions and I understand that formula needs to exist but for the majority of babies, we need to get their moms to breastfeed. Putting a little fear into moms is not a bad thing.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment