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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Could somebody please explain to me why the promotion of FF would be such a bad thing?

157 replies

conniedescending · 02/05/2008 17:04

because as long as they don't say or imply its better than BF then I can't really see the problem? Or why we have to get hysterical about how other people feed their babies?

maybe if FF was made out to be not such a bad thing then there would be more mothers actually bf'ing for longer and with subsequent children as they could be supported by mixed feeding their children.

OP posts:
LittleMyDancing · 02/05/2008 17:07

Brave thread. I'm off to hide under the sofa.

fairyfly · 02/05/2008 17:07

I thought this thread was about me then, it would be a fantastic thing.

LittleMyDancing · 02/05/2008 17:09

We could promote you, FF, that would be great! Your own ad campaign.

Seriously though, I think the point is not that promoting formula milk is inherently evil, but that unless equal amounts of money was spent on promoting BF, then BF would lose out due to the power of advertising, despite arguably being the better product.

And given that BF makes no money for large pharma companies, noone's going to put that amount of money behind an ad campaign for it.

Now I'm going back under the sofa.

Original poster
conniedescending · 02/05/2008 17:12

interesting point LittleMYDancing, hadn't considered that bf would be the competitor - surely the other formula brands would be?

OP posts:
Rubyrubyruby · 02/05/2008 17:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

VictorianSqualor · 02/05/2008 17:14

Firstly, why not read the other thread where it was explained?

Secondly, why should companies be able to make money out of people who are just desperate to do the best for their children? Including choosing the right milk for them, yet are given no information about which formula is better, formulas have not been tested against each otehr,s o there is no proof any one of them is better for baby, yet they all claim to be, or advertise in such a way that they 'seem' to be, we as mothers should be able to choose the right formula based on facts not the biggest advertising budget or the best worded campaign.

Also breastfeeding is better for baby, we know this, and the more normal it is made to seem, and bottle feeding as a subsitute (not the norm) then it is more likely to increase the BF rates.

Blu · 02/05/2008 17:15

LOL at FF.

What LMD said - BUT there was research about cigarette ads that showed that advertising had no influence in encouraghing people to smike, only what brand they might.

However, that was probably research done by BAT or someone, and it does seem likely that if you advertise something a lot, people get a sense that it must be desirable. And it would re-infoce a visual image 'as the norm' of bottle feeding.

tiktok · 02/05/2008 17:16

No need for hysteria, I agree.

On a wider level, it is, pure and simple a public health issue, connie.

More breastfeeding, and more breastfeeding for longer, would reduce health inequalities and save us all money. Promotion of formula milk has been shown to reduce breastfeeding (among other factors). That is, after all, the aim of the very large amounts of money spent on promoting it.

In addition, advertising and promotion does not inform parents of the differences between different formulas, and there is evidence from surveys of a lot of confusion between infant formula and follow on (follow on is not suitable for young babies). The confusion on the part of the manufacturers is deliberate.

Proscribing promotion would not prevent anyone from choosing to use formula - formula would continue, as it should be, to be freely available. If the promotion was not there, no one would miss it! I mean - do you miss not seeing ads for , um, corn plasters or clothes pegs?! You just buy 'em when you need to, 'cos you know they are there! And when you don't see ads for clothes pegs, it doesn't make you think 'oooooh, no ads for clothes pegs...they must be horrible things'

There will never be equal money to promote breastfeeding - it's not a level playing field. So if we think it would be a good thing for fewer mothers to formula feed, and more mothers to bf for longer, then it makes sense to control the promotion of formula.

Don't understand your second sentence at all!! No logic visible, sorry.

Goldiewithabump · 02/05/2008 17:16

I agree conniedescending!

hanaflower · 02/05/2008 17:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

VictorianSqualor · 02/05/2008 17:16

Oh and, FF isn't 'such a bad thing' it's there for us to use and in a lot of cases, good that it's there, especially as so many women are not supported in breastfeeding anyway, so end up feeling they have no choice but to FF, formula is needed, yes, but we need it to be a proper informed choice not one that is pushed upon us through advertising and lack of zsupport/proper information.

Nancy66 · 02/05/2008 17:17

I've said before on other threads that I can't see any problem with this.

All manufacturers are entitled to advertise their products within certain guidelines and I don't see my formula should be any different.

The people who so violently object seem to be those that would never FF in any case. So what does it matter to you? You can't be sold a product you never have the slightest intention of buying.

I think the existing regulations go far enough. I'm oppposed to censorship and don't think it has any place in a free thinking society. If you're going to ban advertising everything that is protentially harmful then surely you also have to ban ads for: fast cars, coca cola, McDonalds, Sunny Delight etc etc...

LittleMyDancing · 02/05/2008 17:17

But that assumes that the mother has already made the choice to use formula milk. Where BF would lose it is in that initial choice between shall I BF or FF?

And you can imagine a scenario where a mother thinks 'oh I'll FF because of that lovely ad showing the lovely baby with the mother saying how much more convenient it is to use bottles and how Daddy can give them in the night so I can sleep and how hygienic and lovely it is' and not having any of the info about the advantages of BF to influence her decision.

My thinking is that a mother's choice of milk should not be a commercial decision.

FF companies could even do giveaways if they were allowed to promote it - 'I gave my Baby FF because you got 1000 Nectar points with it'....

LookingForwardToSummer · 02/05/2008 17:17

connie - you're brave! brace yourself for tidal waves of angry posts. but i think that might be what you want!

hanaflower · 02/05/2008 17:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

tiktok · 02/05/2008 17:19

Nancy, many posters in support of no promotion have used formula.

LittleMyDancing · 02/05/2008 17:20

yikes, I seem to have been dragged out from behind the sofa!

[runs back and puts fingers in ears, singing loudly]

fedupandisolated · 02/05/2008 17:22

No Nancy66, I FF my son by choice but I don't think formula should be advertised. The fact is that the milks are already pushed in a very unethical way - we have no way of knowing which is best.

It does not stop those of us who DO bottlefeed from seeking out the various manufacturers on the internet or otherwise for info and advice.

...and whether we realise it or not we are none of us immune to advertising - the manufacturers would not spend so much on them if we were.

VictorianSqualor · 02/05/2008 17:24

Nancy, I'm against promotion, I used formula with my DD and in the same situation would again.
It's not the formula that people are bothered about, it is the way the choice to use it is made.
We are all adults and can make a choice to FF or BF, and if we decide to FF, we need to make a choice which milk to make, surely you would not be against people having the right information, or even researching the different milks to make their pick rather than seeing a ncie advert on the telly that was made by some second year psychology student who knows how to get into new mums brains?

LookingForwardToSummer · 02/05/2008 17:24

littlemydancing - glad i'm not the only person who says yikes, i was worried it was dying out. i also enjoy; crikey! cripes! rats! and dammit janet (have to be careful with that though as next door neighbour is called janet)

VictorianSqualor · 02/05/2008 17:26

crikey must be followed by mikey "Crikey Mikey!"

LittleMyDancing · 02/05/2008 17:35

[pulls fingers out of ears]

sorry, what was that LookingForwardToSummer? i was singing to myself

Yikes, crikey, and even on occasion...top hole!

Nancy66 · 02/05/2008 17:37

But your logic just assumes that all new mums are incredibly stupid and unable to think for themselves.

I'm not in the market for a new car - so it doesn't matter how many sleek, glossy ads I see on telly, it doesn't matter if they promise me I'll get laid by George Clooney if I buy a new merc - I won't be swayed.

Do you really think the power of advertising is THAT compelling?

VictorianSqualor · 02/05/2008 17:40

But if you were in the market for a brand new car, and there was no other information out there regarding which car was best then yes, advertising would work wonders.

CorrieDale · 02/05/2008 17:41

Flippin' 'eck is a favourite here. As are gosh! and wow! Which DS now uses to. They sound much cuter when he says them. He also says 'sugar!', which always makes my heart stop a little in case he might be about to say something else, which he may have heard from me to.