Still being subjected to the cow and gate ad.

[LookingForwardToSummer]

Grrrrr. It's so annoying! Is there nothing we can do?

Personally I quite like M&S for 'staples' - underwear, plain linen trousers, t shirts etc. The ads would not make me think their clothes are trendy all of a sudden. But it has to be said that since that George guy from Asda came in, they have got trendier.

I should have read the full thread to see the real topic youngbut... Oh well, should really get to bed anyway

LOL no no potpourri meant it in a humerous way!

And that bloody not just food, it's M&S poncy pants food is laughable. Especially the salmon one running now where she sounds like she is snotting all over the place with a cold or hay fever, yuk

Oh suddenly the screaming AbDabs-- diahorrea emm chocolate pud looks dodgy too squidgy

Maybe if M&S started selling formula disguised as condensed milk - with Dervla marketing it - they could pull their profits up next quarter?

It's all in the power of the advertsing you see

Ah yes HF because we all no we'd buy shite if it was marketted well. LOL.

Yes because we always do what marketing tells us to do do (baaaaaaaaa we are mere croc wearing sheep) .That's Why Princess Andrea the house proud adulteress is queen of da fluuff and fold.nice

PSML. So is anyone doing anything tonight?

Im having a night in.... not just any night in... Im having an m&s night in!

Anybody breastfeeding with half a brain cell is NOT going to watch an advert and go "oh what a pretty tin, I know I'll ditch the breast feeding".

Yes - but advertising doesn't work like this does it?

It works in sophisticated and subtle ways to by creating a climate of opinion around a product, using suggestion and allusion, which work subliminally on those who are exposed to them.

In other words, it changes the way you FEEL and think about a product, rather than by logic.

The advertising and marketing is designed to increase your sense of trust in the company that makes formula, to encourage you to see the product as scientific, and to 'normalise' it. That way, when you do start to struggle with breastfeeding your resistence to using formula is lowered, or if you have misgivings about breastfeeding in the first place you are reassured that formula is a normal, healthy, safe choice for your baby.

The people who make the adverts for formula also study breastfeeding promotion and research very carefully. Without making direct comparisons, which would be illegal, they imply that there are many similarities between their products and breastmilk. At the same time they are happy to put 'breastfeeding is best for babies' on their tins because paradoxically it makes them seem altruistic and honest, which in turn increases mothers' sense of trust in them. Recently there's been a change in the way formula is marketed. The rules on what they're allowed to claim about their products on the tin are going to change. In anticipation of this they're now starting to focus on the emotional aspects of feeding more - hence Farley's have changed to 'Nurture', and SMA have changed their logo to one that resembles a baby at the breast, in the shape of a heart, with the byline 'Love the milk you give'.

You'd almost forget that you're not buying love and care in a tin - what you're actually getting is freeze dried cows milk with added ingredients extracted from fish eyes and marine algae, which has to be reconstituted with tap water.........

Have to say it - advertisers must adore people who think advertising doesn't work on them......... it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

And your point actually is?

The stats that keep getting quoted about the number of women who intend to breastfeed and set out to breastfeed seem to indicate to me that it is the lack of support for breastfeeding, and, as discussed in other threads, the lack of information about the difficulties of breastfeeding that are the main problems contributing to low breastfeeding statistics. I think this is always a sensitive argument because to say that formula is being normalised and presented as non-risk-associated strikes to the heart of the millions of women who wanted to breastfeed and ended up not being able to - first, they're being told that they were fish-in-a-barrel fools who succumbed to advertising and ignored everything else they read about the benefits of breastfeeding, second, they wince when being reminded that a group of people thinks it's morally wrong to present the stuff they gave to their babies as 'okay'. I just think that's why the arguments kick off. No one doubts the sincerity and urgency of the people who are upset by the formula ads, but I think the millions of breastfeeding failures don't like to be portrayed by them as advertisers' dreams who gave up on their babies .

Well said Ebenes.

I think people who are upset by Formula advertisements really need to get a grip on reality.

You would think they were portraying infanticide.

Would someone like to sum up how formula manufacturers are misleading people in their adverts.

Sorry I went to bed early - I am struggling with mastitis at the moment (after 18 months of bf-ing, how is that fair?! )

Just to reiterate my comments further down:

I think formula advertising should be banned across the board. No follow-on milks, no infant formulas, nothing, nada. This should be replaced with informative, direct, non-biased information about formula contents and ingredients, as well as the risks associated with ff-ing.

Marketing is that vicious, that insidious, and I am afraid that to think otherwise is staggeringly naive. The Cheesestrings example is a good one. The poster is already happy with her plain old cheddar. She would not want to buy Cheesestrings for her child as she knows the product is inferior (and more expensive - oh, the irony!) than her plain old cheddar.

But, imagine, for a moment. Your child starts to refuse the plain cheddar. Or your cheddar runs out (and you can't get any more). Or your friends start whispering behind your back, or tell you to your face that you're just odd because you give your child cheddar. Your family start to think it's a bit disgusting - they have no shame in telling you this directly to your face. The whole rest of the country - it seems - is using Cheesestrings.

You cannot, seriously tell me that you would feel tempted to just try some Cheesestrings. After all - what harm could it possibly do to you cheddar supply? And, let's face it, the cheese you feed your child is your choice, isn't it? No direct marketing involved there, right?

FWIW - I have given my child Cheesestrings! He also has Babybels, and Emmental, and Gouda and plain old cheddar from the deli counter (has to be a medium strength though, no mild for my ds!!) I cannot, hand on heart, say that marketing did not influence my decision on my cheese buying. Because i've seen the Cheesestrings and Babybel ads and I know that it's cheese directly marketed at children. So i think, "Oh well, that's great. Cheese specifically for children? It must be made with the children's best interest at heart."

We live in a world directly influenced by marketing. If you doubt this, then let me tell you dh's friends' (a marketing exec) salary: £55,000. Now, that's in the toy and nursery industry. Why would an agency who markets toy and nursery products pay someone a salary of £55k if the work they did had no influence on our society? To think that marketing does not affect our worlds is absurd, i am afraid.

Formula marketing is so aggressive because their main competitor is a superior product, free, and more widely available than theirs could ever be. How the hell do you market a product like that? Like this, and this, that's how.

have a read back over the thread juuule...

55K? Not much in advertising I'm afraid.

There is so much rubbish spouting from some people's mouths it is unbelievable.

hf - i couldn't agree more.

Nope - I just don't 'get' the outrage about these adverts.

I do understand that there should be more easily available information about what is contained in formula milk and how it compares with breast milk.

I do think that anyone who wants to bf should have all the support they need.

I do think that it should be made more widely known the pros and cons of each milk.

suburbandryad if my child had to have cheese to live and I ran out of cheddar or he refused to eat cheddar and the only other option was cheesestrings - too right, I'd try cheesestrings. Of course, if I'd never heard of them because they weren't allowed to be advertised or spoken about then I might be at a disadvantage.

Banning the adverts IMO makes the whole issue seem seedy for those who "choose" to use formula for one reason or another.

But formula milk is not prescription only.