To be disgusted at Dove for their breastfeeding advert 'put them away!

[LadyTennantofTardis]

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/40478372

Tequila I really don't understand why you are defending Unilever so vigorously. The plain meaning of the ad copy is offensive. Whether they meant something else - which is just complete speculation on your part as they've not said "we meant feeding schedules" or anything nearly as detailed as what you're claiming - is irelevant.

The ads are poorly designed and that's why they're offensive. It's not my job as a customer to read Dove's mind before I decide if the ad is offensive or not.

Tequila, the wording of the ad makes it seem as if the majority of people are against feeding a crying baby whether or not they are 'due' a feed

That's got nowt to do with schedule feeding. That's just cruel.

Every 4 hours, or whenever he asks? Whatever your style were with you every step of the way. Buy fucking soap.

Any good?

We believe there are many ways to be a great mum or dad.
"Our campaign simply aims to celebrate the different approaches and opinions around parenting, including whether or not mums choose to breastfeed in public, recognising that it's ultimately what works for you and your baby that matters the most."

No. This is 'celebrating' discrimination and, in the case of the crying baby - parenting behaviour which has been robustly proven to be detrimental to the mental health and development of infants.

I don't have any insight. Just not following pack mentality and expressing my own opinion. I'm fairly contrary. But just reading what the advertisers actually wrote; it's offensive.

Tequila I agree, it would make a shit ad campaign, as does the current wording.

Feeding schedules vs on demand feeding, how utterly boring even to people currently deciding between those options. And utterly irrelevant to selling Dove products.

There's no reason whatsoever for Dove to be discussing it in the first place but if they MUST include it in their ad campaign they should make it clear that's what they're doing rather than just running an ad saying '64% of people are passionately against feeding crying babies' and providing no further information.

64% are passionately against feeding him when he cries. Buy Dove!

It doesn't work.

Tequila I really don't understand why you are defending Unilever so vigorously.

I'm not defending them. I just have a different view to you (and the rest, by the looks of it.)
You do understand that people are allowed to disagree with you, right?

The premise behind the campaign is that there is no standard way to do things and different people parent in different ways and as long as you do what is right for your family, then you are doing great.

I think that's a nice idea and I like the idea that it's fine to breast feed or bottle feed, it's fine to use cloth nappies or disposable ones, it's fine to helicopter parent or free range parent, etc.

BUT

Language is very important and the language used in the ads is horrible and offensive.

They also chose very emotive topics which I think was unwise.

I also hate the expression real mums. I know they are saying that all mums are real mums, but we already knew that. Of course all mums are real mums, same as all women are real women.

Tequila you're not disagreeing, you're arguing that Dove meant X even though they've said Y. And the rest of us are saying Y is offensive end of story. And you have no evidence that Dove meant X. Yet we all have a pack mentality? No sorry you're just being contrary.

Tequila you're not disagreeing, you're arguing that Dove meant X even though they've said Y. And the rest of us are saying Y is offensive end of story. And you have no evidence that Dove meant X. Yet we all have a pack mentality? No sorry you're just being contrary.

FFS, this place is absolutely ridiculous at times. If you're not an echo chamber and actually carry your own opinion that goes against the majority, you're told you're being contrary and arguing.
YES, I am arguing - the other side of an opinion! An unusual concept in the age of social media outrage bandwagon jumping I admit.
Not everyone has to think the same.
(Yes, my last comment may be construed as inflammatory, but FFS, don't be so ridiculous. People are allowed to have a different opinion.

Hell, people are allowed to be wrong. It's a sort of free country.

I think people are confused about why the argument went like this:

Dove: Put them away
MN: That's offensive
Tequila: Telling people that it's OK to cover up if they want to is fine
MN: That's not what Dove said
Tequila: You're all sheep

Of course not everyone has to think the same but you do have to base your opinion on the actual facts.

Fact A is the actual written wording and the actual images, that we can read and see, and the confirmation from Dove that they stand by that wording

Non Fact B is your guess that they actually meant something completely different to the actual wording that we can read, despite no statement from Dove that this is the case

You can't expect B to be seen as equally valid as A.

On demand?
On a schedule?
Dove's on your side.

Is the kind of thing they were probably aiming for. It at least makes more sense, and took me longer to write down than think up.

However, if I was leading on this campaign I would have been pickier about what subjects I used. There are plenty of things that are simply preferences - finding out who sex before the birth for example. There are also many differences between mothers that aren't necessarily choices and are equally valid - working full time or sahm. And many differences between families, none of which need value judgments - you could just have different families and say you support them all in the job of parenting.

Feeding on demand is recommended by the NHS, not as one of many choices, but as the correct way based on medical knowledge. Breastfeeding mothers are a protected class, and it is illegal to discriminate against them. Dove using these issues in this context frames them as not really mattering, when actually they do.

Basket has put it perfectly.

Has anyone got a link to see the advert? I can't find it online.

www.google.ca/search?q=put+them+away+dove&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXxeL_-O_UAhVC4mMKHYQbAswQ_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=1012#imgrc=fY7VJzQXKem0VM:

I suspect dove knew exactly what they were doing here, goading for social media reaction. It's awful and I hope it gets withdrawn. Like something they'd come up with on the apprentice.

I think we should all boycott Dove.

I think we should all boycott Dove.

aaaaand there's the boycott word again. You do what you like, not everybody has to though.

If they said "25% of mother's don't want to breastfeed in public" that would be one thing (is this what they mean?)- and talking about different parenting styles - but they are saying "put them away" which suggests telling others what to do. That's obviously not on.

Babies have a right to eat in public, as everyone here has said.

Dove certainly seem to have their message (and all of us) confused!!

I don't believe they are trying to tell women to 'put them away' but this campaign is utterly rubbish.

If the message they are trying to get across is 'we support parents however, whenever and wherever they choose to feed their babies' (although I'm baffled by why they feel this support will sell more soap?!!) then they swung and missed.

What they have managed to say (whether they meant to or not) is 'we support your right to pass judgement on however, whenever and wherever parents choose to feed their babies'

Strange choice.

I don't buy their products anyway so don't need to boycott. But I definitely question their judgement!!

I think it's a Unilever brand, though, and it's a bit tricky to boycott the whole of Unilever, sadly.

But that's exactly why I try to do it. They have way too much power. They shouldn't be given any more.

... perhaps they (Unilever) also sell formula, then they'd have a reason to discourage women from breastfeeding.

These are the big corporations that monopolise the market.

I don't have any insight. Just not following pack mentality and expressing my own opinion.

The thing is, it really is stretching the meaning of "pack mentality" when the "pack" is reading what is actually there and you are claiming that plain words mean something entirely different. Suppose, for instance, that Dove announce "The grass at Wimbledon is red"; the vast majority say nonsense, the grass there is green; Tequila comes along and says it isn't nonsense, because what they actually said was that the grass is greenish-red. Then when it's pointed out that they clearly didn't say that, she says it's just her opinion, she's allowed her opinion, and telling her that her opinion isn't actually based on clearly available facts means that you are following pack mentality.

aaaaand there's the boycott word again. You do what you like, not everybody has to though

No shit, that's why I said I think everybody should, not I insist everybody must.

Multiple people descending on one poster and repeating the same criticism is a bit pack mentality-esque though.