to think that the new SMA advert is very close to breaching the WHO code.

[sickoftheholidays]

Just seen that nauseating advert from SMA "Theres nothing more important than what you do for your baby at the start" cue mum handing lap top with big SMA logo on the screen over to dad, and then picking up newborn baby.......

I thought the UK we werent allowed to advertise breastmilk substitutes for babies under 6 months of age? yet here we are with a newborn and a clear implication that SMA is a great thing to do for your baby at the start.

I honestly dont want to get into the whole bf/af debate, I dont give a sh*t what mums choose to feed their infants as long as its nutritionally adequate, correctly made and in sufficient quantity, but I do support mums having accurate unbiased information regarding feeding choices for their infant, and also about manufacturers of artificial milks sticking to the rules regarding their adverts! The cow and gate one was misleading enough, but at least the baby was over 6 months!

There are bloody good reasons for the ban which go far beyond ultimately educated women choosing to bottle feed. Google Nestle ban. The WHO aren't completely dim. If you all know enough to not be swayed by advertising of formula, why bother wanting it advertised?

Anyway, this'll soon descend into mafia/evangelical/bullying/guilt trip calling etc which wasn't the point in the OP I don't think, so I'm outta here.

I do object to a formula company advertising to me without asking first - especially if that advertising has been bought into my home without my permission.

Errr, yeah. That's advertising for you. Imagine if they went round asking everyone first. Dear me.

Well said Giddy. No wonder a bag of peanuts has to have a warning on it that it contains peanuts - this is because we are slowly be absolved of the ability to think for ourselves. I think I can trust myself to be outraged for myself, not because someone on MN thinks I, and the rest of the world, should be.

DH says that if formula companies are allowed to advertise then for every penny they spend on advertising, they should pay the same to the government for them to run BF adverts

I think formula advertising should be banned completely.

Banning cigarette advertising hasn't stopped people differentiating between brands has it?

Oh for Christ's sake. It's formula, not fucking arsenic.

I don't think this is about not trusting women - it's about not giving big corporations any opportunity to undermine breastfeeding.

OMG not this again!!!

If I had a penny for every time I've read/heard women say, " it's the same as breastmilk" or, " It;s closest to breastmilk" I reckon I'd be sitting pretty.

And they don't get these ideas from thin air. They get them from adverts. Adverts that talk about " immunofortis" or adverts that show laughing babies and a voiceover telling us how healthy they are.

If you think you have real informed choice about whether to bottle feed or which formula to use, I reckon you are in denial.

If I had a penny for every time I've read/heard women say, " it's the same as breastmilk" or, " It's closest to breastmilk"

I'd have 0p

The problem is that BF doesn't get any advertising on TV, in the same type of timeslots. There's no "glamorous" ads in fancy beige/white houses with perfect families and breathy voices telling you that BFing is fabulous.

Jogon what an odd thing to say. You say that women who say formula is the 'closest thing' to breast milk are in denial.

What, pray, is the closest thing to breast milk? Do you know something we don't?

You clearly don't move in the same circles as me or have had as many kids over as many years.

At the very beginning of this advert, her laptop screen shows a guide to breastfeeding.
I think?
I think that evens it out supposedly

Maternelle BF doesn't need to be advertised on telly, because it's free, and because it's vocally and persistently advocated (quite rightly) by health practitioners.

Simples.

Jogon I have no children, but I have 12 nieces and nephews, and friends lactating all over the shop, and indeed over my own sofa cushions. That is not the point. You are saying that women are in denial if they believe that formula is the next best thing to breast milk. That is patently absurd. You can advocate BF without implying that women who opt to FF are deluded/foolish/in denial.

It is absolutely not the same. Many women perceive the subject as boring BECAUSE health professionals go on about it. Advertising is on our screens day in, day out, and enter the society subconscious about how a baby should be fed.

ARGH why do I bother with these threads. Women will always find ways to despise and judge each other. At thirteen it's who wears the best makeup, at 35 it's how you feed your children. I'm going to go have a bath and read the rude bits in a Murakami novel.

Not sure if you mean this for me Blooferlady. Where did I say I despise and judge other mums??

Bloofer, dried cows milk is closer to breastmilk than jam or beer , yes. But it is not nor ever could be, " close to breastmilk".

It's a an adequate alternative to breastmilk but that's about it.

And I formula fed two of my children.

I agree with what another poster said; I did think the ad was sailing a bit close to the wind though. But making comparaisons to the tobacco advertising is a bit bloody much! It's not rat poison you know!

But why shouldn't they advertise? It's not a dirty secret. They should advertise formula and bf on tv; I don't understand the problem.

Hold on though, the bf bullies will be here any second to verbally accost anyone who has even ever looked at a tin of formula. You know who you are ladies I don't know, feeding your children arsenic formula. You'll be hearing it's ok to wean before 6 months next. Oh wait....