Noone else then?
OK, I'll just post my letter to them here anyway in case anyone is along later.
judy&[email protected]
27th July 2007
Dear Blooming Marvellous,
I have been an enthusiastic customer of yours since I was pregnant with my first child three years ago, both via mail order and your xxxxxxxxxxxx branch.
When your new catalogue arrived this morning I was dismayed to find inside a Milupa Aptamil leaflet advertising their Careline. I am concerned, because your brand is widely trusted by pregnant women and parents of young babies, and this type of advertising implies endorsement and contributes to the overwhelming formula feeding culture in the UK.
Although the leaflet claims that the Careline can help new mothers to make an “informed choice”, it does not state clearly that this advice is provided by a formula milk manufacturer. As such, Milupa Aptamil is no more able to provide impartial advice on infant nutrition than any other business seeking to raise their brand’s profile. This Careline may not be advertising Aptamil formula directly, (this would be illegal) but promoting their name amounts to the same thing. The fact that Aptamil is an infant formula, and that breastfeeding is best for babies is only provided in tiny print on the back of the leaflet.
The Department of Health recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and a formula manufacturer is an inappropriate body to try to provide good breastfeeding advice. Yet Milupa’s leaflet claims that they have been “experts in infant nutrition in 50 years” How can they be, when their profits depend on women mixed or fully formula feeding? Their claim is not linked in the leaflet to their role as a manufacturer, which is a significant omission.
Mothers wanting to breastfeed are far better served by the advice and support of the The National Childbirth Trust, (www.nct.org.uk) The Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (abm.me.uk/website/index.htm) and La Leche League (www.laleche.org.uk/) all train volunteer breastfeeding counsellors who are equipped with the skills to support breastfeeding mothers through the types of problem that are often seen as “needing” infant formula, even by health care professionals. Sadly these charities can rarely afford heavily publicised carelines with employed staff – although their volunteers all offer excellent telephone advice as the real experts, with evidence based training and no profit motive.
It is no coincidence that Milupa Aptamil has decided to promote its Careline so heavily at the same time as new legal restrictions have come into force on how they advertise their product. It is a real shame that you as a trusted brand have agreed to be part of their new marketing strategy. I know that you are also a business, and need to take advertising from outside bodies, but a contribution, however indirect it may appear, to undermining breastfeeding is far removed from Blooming Marvellous’s contribution to welcoming your customers to parenthood. It would be wonderful if you could counter this by providing information in a future catalogue from one or more of the charitable organisations such as those listed above who do far more to support new parents than Milupa Aptamil ever could.
I look forward to hearing from you soon,
Yours sincerely,
etc.