Underhand tactics - formula companies

[Jo]

Wow!
Well I have a couple of thoughts on this topic, purely from a mum point of view
I have read posts on this that have made me range from to to and WTF!!

When I was pregnant with Emily *cough* 12 years ago I was asked what I wanted to do, I said bottles, They said fine and that was that, now that seems mental to me, My mum Bf'd but I never really asked her about it and she never pushed it on me. She used SMA later and that is what I used.

There was no advertising and follow on milk didn't really exist so much then but I just knew about formula, mainly from working with young children, so I guess that is what I felt comfortable with.
I also didn't even have a computer never mind t'internet
Oh and they used to do little tins as well, don't know if you can still get them.

Fast forward 7 years, again I was asked what I wanted to do and I didn't know, I'd discussed Bfing and expressing with OH.
I said this and they just told me to have a think, I though about it and still didn't have much info so went with what I knew which was bottles.
They accepted it and never mentioned feeding again.

I could have well been persuaded to BF, but had no guidance at all from health professionals.

I know the OP was about and advert but I thought I would give my tale about why I chose to do what I did, and TBH I will defend my descions to the hilt and my children are no worse off from being FF.
They are bright intelligent children who are never ill.

I never had an advert influencing me, and really if your mind can be changed so easily by an advert it does make me wonder......

We are bombarded by adverts all the time be it in magazines, on the telly or on the radio.
I don't get new windows every other week because the new one claims to be best, I don't buy cars willy nilly although there is a very attractive purple one being advertised at the minute

I just really don't get all the arms up in the air over a bloomin formula company advertising other services, turn the page, ignore it, If you are set on BFing a glossy mag is not gonna change your mind.

RAFwife got it spot on, it is clever marketing and in a way it has worked as we are all chatting about it.

But this FF v's BF is getting very old now

Seriously liquid feeds are such a small part of your child life, yes it is important for 6-12months whatever but so much more comes into play when you start proper food, oooh and if any of them watch T.V from 2yrs god help you as then the pester power and bombardment of adverts really do begin.

 

[maddiwatts19]

She isn't. She is concerned that this is a way of 'advertising' to pregnant women by finding a loophole in the law.

and so what if it is?! surely its good for all mums to be to be aware of all the options available... as everyone has said its a matter of choice...!

Even without the advertising, I can't imagine there's a mum or mum to be in the country who isn't aware of all the options ie that formula is available

before i had both my boys, i knew formula existed, but didn't know anything about it. maybe i'm just nieve, but all i had ever experienced was "breast is best" i chose to bf my first child, and i wasn't given the choice with my second, but ffing has proved great for him! but i had to learn about it all myself because all i was given from midwives/health visitors/the hospital was leaflets about breastfeeding. even though they told me i needed medication and couldn't breastfeed for at least 2 weeks after i had Joshua, they still didn't give me any help or information on formula feeding! that's why i think the advert in the opening post is a good idea!

 

[MissBroody]

LoL the irony - I scrolled to the bottom of the page and there was an Aptamil advert that said free cuddly polar bear if you join our online club. Anyway - OT, but I've spent about 2 hours of my day reading this thread and now my ironing has once again gone undone

 

[Sam9kids]

Wow!
Well I have a couple of thoughts on this topic, purely from a mum point of view
I have read posts on this that have made me range from to to and WTF!!

When I was pregnant with Emily *cough* 12 years ago I was asked what I wanted to do, I said bottles, They said fine and that was that, now that seems mental to me, My mum Bf'd but I never really asked her about it and she never pushed it on me. She used SMA later and that is what I used.

There was no advertising and follow on milk didn't really exist so much then but I just knew about formula, mainly from working with young children, so I guess that is what I felt comfortable with.
I also didn't even have a computer never mind t'internet
Oh and they used to do little tins as well, don't know if you can still get them.

Fast forward 7 years, again I was asked what I wanted to do and I didn't know, I'd discussed Bfing and expressing with OH.
I said this and they just told me to have a think, I though about it and still didn't have much info so went with what I knew which was bottles.
They accepted it and never mentioned feeding again.

I could have well been persuaded to BF, but had no guidance at all from health professionals.

I know the OP was about and advert but I thought I would give my tale about why I chose to do what I did, and TBH I will defend my descions to the hilt and my children are no worse off from being FF.
They are bright intelligent children who are never ill.

I never had an advert influencing me, and really if your mind can be changed so easily by an advert it does make me wonder......

We are bombarded by adverts all the time be it in magazines, on the telly or on the radio.
I don't get new windows every other week because the new one claims to be best, I don't buy cars willy nilly although there is a very attractive purple one being advertised at the minute

I just really don't get all the arms up in the air over a bloomin formula company advertising other services, turn the page, ignore it, If you are set on BFing a glossy mag is not gonna change your mind.

RAFwife got it spot on, it is clever marketing and in a way it has worked as we are all chatting about it.

But this FF v's BF is getting very old now

Seriously liquid feeds are such a small part of your child life, yes it is important for 6-12months whatever but so much more comes into play when you start proper food, oooh and if any of them watch T.V from 2yrs god help you as then the pester power and bombardment of adverts really do begin.

Very well said!!!

 

[MissBroody]

Wow!
Well I have a couple of thoughts on this topic, purely from a mum point of view
I have read posts on this that have made me range from to to and WTF!!

When I was pregnant with Emily *cough* 12 years ago I was asked what I wanted to do, I said bottles, They said fine and that was that, now that seems mental to me, My mum Bf'd but I never really asked her about it and she never pushed it on me. She used SMA later and that is what I used.

There was no advertising and follow on milk didn't really exist so much then but I just knew about formula, mainly from working with young children, so I guess that is what I felt comfortable with.
I also didn't even have a computer never mind t'internet
Oh and they used to do little tins as well, don't know if you can still get them.

Fast forward 7 years, again I was asked what I wanted to do and I didn't know, I'd discussed Bfing and expressing with OH.
I said this and they just told me to have a think, I though about it and still didn't have much info so went with what I knew which was bottles.
They accepted it and never mentioned feeding again.

I could have well been persuaded to BF, but had no guidance at all from health professionals.

I know the OP was about and advert but I thought I would give my tale about why I chose to do what I did, and TBH I will defend my descions to the hilt and my children are no worse off from being FF.
They are bright intelligent children who are never ill.

I never had an advert influencing me, and really if your mind can be changed so easily by an advert it does make me wonder......

We are bombarded by adverts all the time be it in magazines, on the telly or on the radio.
I don't get new windows every other week because the new one claims to be best, I don't buy cars willy nilly although there is a very attractive purple one being advertised at the minute

I just really don't get all the arms up in the air over a bloomin formula company advertising other services, turn the page, ignore it, If you are set on BFing a glossy mag is not gonna change your mind.

RAFwife got it spot on, it is clever marketing and in a way it has worked as we are all chatting about it.

But this FF v's BF is getting very old now

Seriously liquid feeds are such a small part of your child life, yes it is important for 6-12months whatever but so much more comes into play when you start proper food, oooh and if any of them watch T.V from 2yrs god help you as then the pester power and bombardment of adverts really do begin.

I was going to say this but feared the backlash of how important the first year is and so on, but seriously, when you look at the bigger picture does it matter what your baby ate for the first year of its life? Healthy food for the rest of their lives surely has more importance? When our babies are teenagers and adults are we really going to be obsessing about what they ate 13+ years ago. The BF vs FF debate is so old but rears its ugly head every once in a while and I think we all lose sight of whats most important - the health and happiness of our babies no matter what the source - breast or bottle.

 

[AppleBlossom]

I absolutely agree with Jo when she says that liquid feeding is a tiny part of your child's life

 

[polo_princess]

Good old Granny Jo with her wealth of knowledge and experience

 

[trumpetbum]

no but the fact that they ARE banned could make some people feel wrong for doing it.

my original point was people see it as such an awful thing they feel the need to ban it. it just seems wrong to me

Hon I dont think the advertising should be banned because formula feeding is an awful thing, not at all and I doubt anybody else on here thinks that either I've given formula myself from time to time.

But where the government is actively trying to promote increasing bfing rates in the country, helping people to even see bfing as just as normal as ffing would be a massive step. At the moment, most people I know see ffing as normal and bfing as unusual so at the very least, evening up the balance would be an achievement.

But wouldnt it be more productive to spend money on educating people on the benafits of bb and classes on how to succeed in it and help and advise for those that are having problems?

Nope because its just cheaper to ban the advertising of the alternative, knock out the oposition then we dont have to fork out on the real issue.
Typical government policies, if the education and help was there they wouldnt need to ban the adverts.

Where would the govt get the 6million spare pounds to compete with the advertisers of formula (and that's just what they spend now WITH the ban on 0-6 months advertising). If it's cost effective to ban the advertising in order to improve pubic health then surely that's good.

Where do you get the figures from that from as the last I read all formula companies refuse to reveal there campaigning budgets

It's based on estimations via UNICEF and save the children which are themselves based on accumulated claims via trade and professional publications. It does not take into account spending on advertising through the back door and is based on the least amount that can be plausibly calculated without making wild guesses.

The three top UK baby milk manufacturers spent
£7.6 million on marketing campaigns in the UK
in 2006/07.

Save the children (2007) (refs Mintel 2005, Save the Children UK (August 2006) Code-watch research and 18 Nielsen Media Research (March 2007)

 

[smokey]

Wow!
Well I have a couple of thoughts on this topic, purely from a mum point of view
I have read posts on this that have made me range from to to and WTF!!

When I was pregnant with Emily *cough* 12 years ago I was asked what I wanted to do, I said bottles, They said fine and that was that, now that seems mental to me, My mum Bf'd but I never really asked her about it and she never pushed it on me. She used SMA later and that is what I used.

There was no advertising and follow on milk didn't really exist so much then but I just knew about formula, mainly from working with young children, so I guess that is what I felt comfortable with.
I also didn't even have a computer never mind t'internet
Oh and they used to do little tins as well, don't know if you can still get them.

Fast forward 7 years, again I was asked what I wanted to do and I didn't know, I'd discussed Bfing and expressing with OH.
I said this and they just told me to have a think, I though about it and still didn't have much info so went with what I knew which was bottles.
They accepted it and never mentioned feeding again.

I could have well been persuaded to BF, but had no guidance at all from health professionals.

I know the OP was about and advert but I thought I would give my tale about why I chose to do what I did, and TBH I will defend my descions to the hilt and my children are no worse off from being FF.
They are bright intelligent children who are never ill.

I never had an advert influencing me, and really if your mind can be changed so easily by an advert it does make me wonder......

We are bombarded by adverts all the time be it in magazines, on the telly or on the radio.
I don't get new windows every other week because the new one claims to be best, I don't buy cars willy nilly although there is a very attractive purple one being advertised at the minute

I just really don't get all the arms up in the air over a bloomin formula company advertising other services, turn the page, ignore it, If you are set on BFing a glossy mag is not gonna change your mind.

RAFwife got it spot on, it is clever marketing and in a way it has worked as we are all chatting about it.

But this FF v's BF is getting very old now

Seriously liquid feeds are such a small part of your child life, yes it is important for 6-12months whatever but so much more comes into play when you start proper food, oooh and if any of them watch T.V from 2yrs god help you as then the pester power and bombardment of adverts really do begin.

I was going to say this but feared the backlash of how important the first year is and so on, but seriously, when you look at the bigger picture does it matter what your baby ate for the first year of its life? Healthy food for the rest of their lives surely has more importance? When our babies are teenagers and adults are we really going to be obsessing about what they ate 13+ years ago. The BF vs FF debate is so old but rears its ugly head every once in a while and I think we all lose sight of whats most important - the health and happiness of our babies no matter what the source - breast or bottle.

I realy cant imagine a 14 year old boasting to their mates because they where bf or another teen feeling sorry for themselves because they where ff
They just are not going to care in a few years time

 

[Oscar]

Wow!
Well I have a couple of thoughts on this topic, purely from a mum point of view
I have read posts on this that have made me range from to to and WTF!!

When I was pregnant with Emily *cough* 12 years ago I was asked what I wanted to do, I said bottles, They said fine and that was that, now that seems mental to me, My mum Bf'd but I never really asked her about it and she never pushed it on me. She used SMA later and that is what I used.

There was no advertising and follow on milk didn't really exist so much then but I just knew about formula, mainly from working with young children, so I guess that is what I felt comfortable with.
I also didn't even have a computer never mind t'internet
Oh and they used to do little tins as well, don't know if you can still get them.

Fast forward 7 years, again I was asked what I wanted to do and I didn't know, I'd discussed Bfing and expressing with OH.
I said this and they just told me to have a think, I though about it and still didn't have much info so went with what I knew which was bottles.
They accepted it and never mentioned feeding again.

I could have well been persuaded to BF, but had no guidance at all from health professionals.

I know the OP was about and advert but I thought I would give my tale about why I chose to do what I did, and TBH I will defend my descions to the hilt and my children are no worse off from being FF.
They are bright intelligent children who are never ill.

I never had an advert influencing me, and really if your mind can be changed so easily by an advert it does make me wonder......

We are bombarded by adverts all the time be it in magazines, on the telly or on the radio.
I don't get new windows every other week because the new one claims to be best, I don't buy cars willy nilly although there is a very attractive purple one being advertised at the minute

I just really don't get all the arms up in the air over a bloomin formula company advertising other services, turn the page, ignore it, If you are set on BFing a glossy mag is not gonna change your mind.

RAFwife got it spot on, it is clever marketing and in a way it has worked as we are all chatting about it.

But this FF v's BF is getting very old now

Seriously liquid feeds are such a small part of your child life, yes it is important for 6-12months whatever but so much more comes into play when you start proper food, oooh and if any of them watch T.V from 2yrs god help you as then the pester power and bombardment of adverts really do begin.

I was going to say this but feared the backlash of how important the first year is and so on, but seriously, when you look at the bigger picture does it matter what your baby ate for the first year of its life? Healthy food for the rest of their lives surely has more importance? When our babies are teenagers and adults are we really going to be obsessing about what they ate 13+ years ago. The BF vs FF debate is so old but rears its ugly head every once in a while and I think we all lose sight of whats most important - the health and happiness of our babies no matter what the source - breast or bottle.

Sorry but I really don't agree with this at all. The effects of being breastfed last much, much longer than the first year of life. It's a really vital decision and in my opinion it is incredibly important what my baby eats for the first year of their life.

 

[Susie28]

This thread has certainly stirred quite a debate!! I'm so worn out reading it that any comments I make from now on may not even make sense

But anyway.... had a thought....

This is totally off topic and irrelevant to the original post, but having read the thread and having noticed that so far it's had 5747 views and 404 comments, I've realised that us mummies really do get passionate about issues like this- researching the background information, quoting, grouping up, supporting people with like-minded views, arguing against people with opposing views etc.. but I just wonder what the response would be if it was posted in a mens forum? I guess it would go something like this:

Man No1: So what do you think of that advert?

Man No2: Errrrr dunno like

Man No 3: I like boobs.

Man No 1: I like milk.

Man No 2: The woman in the advert looks fit.

Man No 3: Yeah. I fancy a pint...

and that would be it.

Trust us Mummies to feel so passionate that we ramble on and on for what seems like thousands of pages.... we all obviously just love our babies so much and try to do what we feel is best for them.

 

[Missy86]

This thread had certainly stirred quite a debate!! I'm so worn out reading it that any comments I make from now on may not even make sense

But anyway.... had a thought....

This is totally off topic and irrelevant to the original post, but having read the thread and having noticed that so far it's had 5747 views and 404 comments, I've realised that us mummies really do get passionate about issues like this- researching the background information, quoting, grouping up, supporting people with like-minded views, arguing against people with opposing views etc.. but I just wonder what the response would be if it was posted in a mens forum? I guess it would go something like this:

Man No1: So what do you think of that advert?

Man No2: Errrrr dunno like

Man No 3: I like boobs.

Man No 1: I like milk.

Man No 2: The woman on the advert looks fit.

Man No 3: Yeah. I fancy a pint...

and that would be it.

And that would be it. Trust us Mummies to feel so passionate that we ramble on and on for what seems like thousands of pages.... we all obviously just love our babies so much and try to do what we feel is best for them.

My Oh is man number 3

 

[trumpetbum]

With regard to the advertising of formula...

So it is illegal to advertise formula for under 6 months old. Ok, fair enough. But are you seriously telling me that only parents of babies that are over 6 months old ever see the follow-on adverts?? I think the point I'm trying to make is just because these ads are promoting follow-on milk, clearly specifying for 6mths+, doesn't mean that expectant parents or parents of newborns aren't going to see it and consider FF from birth?

So if no-one seems to have a problem with follow-on ads, then I don't see the difference to if newborn formula was advertised??? Dunno, maybe I'm missing something??

Apologies if this post doesn't completely make sense!! I think there was more I wanted to post, but preggo brain has taken over and I can't remember what it was!!!

I'm not trying to be ignorant and ignore the first part of your post, it's just that I've already given my tuppenceworth in this thread regarding my views on formula companies 'advice' so I'd be repeating myself ad nauseum.

Probably a whole other debate, but the same health agencies and charities who pushed for the initial ban have also asked for this to be extended to follow on milks.

So is this for the purose of a complete hush up then as I dont understand how banning adverts for follow on will help with initial newborn bf problems

This paper pretty much covers their stance. I'd paraphrase but I'm suffering from post curry fatigue.
https://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/pdfs/feedingreport.pdf

 

[trumpetbum]

This thread had certainly stirred quite a debate!! I'm so worn out reading it that any comments I make from now on may not even make sense

But anyway.... had a thought....

This is totally off topic and irrelevant to the original post, but having read the thread and having noticed that so far it's had 5747 views and 404 comments, I've realised that us mummies really do get passionate about issues like this- researching the background information, quoting, grouping up, supporting people with like-minded views, arguing against people with opposing views etc.. but I just wonder what the response would be if it was posted in a mens forum? I guess it would go something like this:

Man No1: So what do you think of that advert?

Man No2: Errrrr dunno like

Man No 3: I like boobs.

Man No 1: I like milk.

Man No 2: The woman on the advert looks fit.

Man No 3: Yeah. I fancy a pint...

and that would be it.

And that would be it. Trust us Mummies to feel so passionate that we ramble on and on for what seems like thousands of pages.... we all obviously just love our babies so much and try to do what we feel is best for them.

In my defence, I have far too much time on my hands with maternity leave and a personal and professional interest in health promotion and women and childrens health. I got quite passionate about THE most boring health promotional model going EVER in an assignment last year, so it's not just breastfeeding/childcare related topics. My tutor nearly wet herself with excitement over it

 

[smokey]

With regard to the advertising of formula...

So it is illegal to advertise formula for under 6 months old. Ok, fair enough. But are you seriously telling me that only parents of babies that are over 6 months old ever see the follow-on adverts?? I think the point I'm trying to make is just because these ads are promoting follow-on milk, clearly specifying for 6mths+, doesn't mean that expectant parents or parents of newborns aren't going to see it and consider FF from birth?

So if no-one seems to have a problem with follow-on ads, then I don't see the difference to if newborn formula was advertised??? Dunno, maybe I'm missing something??

Apologies if this post doesn't completely make sense!! I think there was more I wanted to post, but preggo brain has taken over and I can't remember what it was!!!

I'm not trying to be ignorant and ignore the first part of your post, it's just that I've already given my tuppenceworth in this thread regarding my views on formula companies 'advice' so I'd be repeating myself ad nauseum.

Probably a whole other debate, but the same health agencies and charities who pushed for the initial ban have also asked for this to be extended to follow on milks.

So is this for the purose of a complete hush up then as I dont understand how banning adverts for follow on will help with initial newborn bf problems

This paper pretty much covers their stance. I'd paraphrase but I'm suffering from post curry fatigue.
https://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/pdfs/feedingreport.pdf

Im still waiting for my curry, dam im not whiping hubby enough

On a slightly OT is it just me or is that polar bear at the bottom of the page laughing at us and thinking "haha you havnt started on my sneaky advert yet"

 

[trumpetbum]

With regard to the advertising of formula...

So it is illegal to advertise formula for under 6 months old. Ok, fair enough. But are you seriously telling me that only parents of babies that are over 6 months old ever see the follow-on adverts?? I think the point I'm trying to make is just because these ads are promoting follow-on milk, clearly specifying for 6mths+, doesn't mean that expectant parents or parents of newborns aren't going to see it and consider FF from birth?

So if no-one seems to have a problem with follow-on ads, then I don't see the difference to if newborn formula was advertised??? Dunno, maybe I'm missing something??

Apologies if this post doesn't completely make sense!! I think there was more I wanted to post, but preggo brain has taken over and I can't remember what it was!!!

I'm not trying to be ignorant and ignore the first part of your post, it's just that I've already given my tuppenceworth in this thread regarding my views on formula companies 'advice' so I'd be repeating myself ad nauseum.

Probably a whole other debate, but the same health agencies and charities who pushed for the initial ban have also asked for this to be extended to follow on milks.

So is this for the purose of a complete hush up then as I dont understand how banning adverts for follow on will help with initial newborn bf problems

This paper pretty much covers their stance. I'd paraphrase but I'm suffering from post curry fatigue.
https://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/pdfs/feedingreport.pdf

Im still waiting for my curry, dam im not whiping hubby enough

On a slightly OT is it just me or is that polar bear at the bottom of the page laughing at us and thinking "haha you havnt started on my sneaky advert yet"

I have one for startrite shoes. That polar bear doesn't DARE!!!!

 

[Susie28]

This thread had certainly stirred quite a debate!! I'm so worn out reading it that any comments I make from now on may not even make sense

But anyway.... had a thought....

This is totally off topic and irrelevant to the original post, but having read the thread and having noticed that so far it's had 5747 views and 404 comments, I've realised that us mummies really do get passionate about issues like this- researching the background information, quoting, grouping up, supporting people with like-minded views, arguing against people with opposing views etc.. but I just wonder what the response would be if it was posted in a mens forum? I guess it would go something like this:

Man No1: So what do you think of that advert?

Man No2: Errrrr dunno like

Man No 3: I like boobs.

Man No 1: I like milk.

Man No 2: The woman on the advert looks fit.

Man No 3: Yeah. I fancy a pint...

and that would be it.

And that would be it. Trust us Mummies to feel so passionate that we ramble on and on for what seems like thousands of pages.... we all obviously just love our babies so much and try to do what we feel is best for them.

My Oh is man number 3

Can mine be number 2?????? Any takers for number 1? Or is he just too geeky?

 

[Sam9kids]

i have a flipping travel insurance advert on mine!!!

Maybe its telling me that i need to get away lol

 

[cherryglitter]

Number 1 sounds nice, I like geeks!

 

[cherryglitter]

Mmm Seth Cohen! Of course his character is fictional.. but his face, is not!