European Parliament Elections - Bottle feeding in their advert for 'work life balance'

[pooter]

Has anyone seen these postcards which have the slogan "How should we help balance family and career" and show a laptop and a baby bottle?
here

Surely this flouts the International Code on Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes? It is definitely showing bottle feeding as an aspirational lifestyle choice to enable a work life balance.

anyone want to join me in complaining to their MEP? Just follow the link.

writetothem.com

this is what i wrote - but i just dashed it off, so im sure you could do better

Dear Andrew Duff, Tom Wise, Jeffrey Titford, Richard Howitt, Geoffrey
Van Orden, Robert Sturdy and Christopher Beazley,

I am writing to draw your attention to one of the postcard
advertisements used to promote the 2009 European Parliament Elections.
It has the words "How should we help balance family and careers" and is
illustrated with a picture of a laptop computer and a baby's bottle.

I find it incomprehensible that the European Parliament wishes to be
associated with formula feeding, and indeed promote it as part of
seeking the aspirational 'work-life balance'. Indeed, this postcard
violates the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
of 1981 which member states of the EU have endorsed.

I would appreciate it if you could contact the people responsible for
this advertisement and ask for it to be withdrawn as soon as possible.

Yeah Mark, get with the programme.
[wink[

Interesting artical ChairmumM. Impassioned stuff.

Bottle of wine could imply work-life balance!

ChairmumMiaw, thanks for that link - i should have looked there first for ammunition.

I've had a reply - and i'm not impressed.
Dear Mrs Pooter
Thank you for your email dated 9th April 2009, addressed to Jeffrey Titford and all of the other MEPs in the Eastern Counties. Mr Titford has asked me to reply on his behalf.

I am not sure that the photo of a baby's bottle was intended as an endorsement of 'formula feeding' but as a symbol of the different pressures involved in the 'work-life balance'. However, I can understand that those who believe that breast feeding is the best option for babies, which incidentally, includes myself, might be offended by the picture.

I fear that these postcards will have been printed up by the million by now. Nevertheless, we will pass on your concerns about the images used.

With best wishes,

Stuart Gulleford
Political Advisor to Jeffrey Titford MEP

Hmm - he has missed the point, but perhaps i didn't word my letter well enough. I am going to reply with a more detailed explanation.

"those who believe breastfeedign is the best option for babies..." WTF?? Its not a belief surely? Its medical fact.

AGinandTonic - you have spectacularly missed the point and I don't see why because this thread has spelled it out.

The lack of support for breastfeding mothers and the casual acceptance of the bottle as iconic are part of the same situation.

Many of the posters here - me included - work very hard to support mothers with their bf - as well as recognising and complaining when imagery is used in the way it is in these posters.

No one is saying that someone will use formula as a direct result of seeing the poster. You cannot have read the thread if you think that!

Hi Aginandtonicplease, I am currently training to be a volunteer mother supporter to do exactly what you say would have helped you (and me incidentally )

I feel really disappointed that the European Parliament is undermining the work of all the people out there trying to support mums to breastfeed. I seriously would hate to make anyone feel guilty for bottle feeding - i mix fed DS until i was able to bf fully, and fully endorse every woman's right to choose how to feed her baby. What i do object to are the adverts/tv programmes/toy dolls/cards and now our own bloody European Pariliament using the bottle as an image that says 'babies'. It just perpetuates the idea that bottle feeding is the norm, and its just the same as breastfeeding. It isnt.

I had a reply from one of my MEPs, Tom Wise who was really supportive, and enclosed the reply he had had from the EP. Here it is.

Dear Tom
Thank you for your mail and the attachment.
We regret that your constituent has misunderstood the purpose of the
advertisement, which is to emphasise the balance between work and home
for both men and women. The work-life balance is important for both
sexes, not just for women.
A further point is that, nowadays, much bottle-fed milk is in fact
breast-milk. As a grandfather myself, I have often bottle-fed my
grandson with breast-milk expressed by his mother.
We are therefore entirely satisfied that the image appropriately
encapsulates choices to be made by parents, both women and men, in
taking care of their children and for family and working life.
Will you pass on the contents of this letter, or would you prefer that I
should reply directly? I see that the mail was addressed to all East
region MEPs, so I hope you will not mind if I send a similar mail to
them.

All good wishes
Dermot Scott
Head of Office

I am absolutely fuming at his patronising tone, and will write a reply to Mr Scott explaining that it is he who has 'misunderstood'. GGggrrr.

Incidentally, Tom Wise said that 4 people had emailed him about this issue - so if ou havent yet, then think about doing so, as 4 really isnt enough!!

Glad you understand, G&T - though I really think you do not, if you still think it's to do with concern about persuading mothers to use formula.

Do people really think it's 'militant' to write a letter about a bottle used as an icon? I mean, really....how 'militant' is that?

I don't find Bitty in the least offensive - it's not laughing at bf, it's laughing at British attitudes that prevent anyone saying anything even if they see something more outrageously bizarre than they have ever seen before (grown man wanting a bf on his wedding day; guests look stupefied but remain polite and silent).

The normalisation of bottle feeding and its use as a icon is part of the problem.

I agree the bottle imagery is really unhelpful. Incidently I have just got back from a trip to France and Italy and all of the baby changing/feeding rooms have a picture of a bottle.

But surely if you don't voice your opposition to something you are allowing it to continue unquestioned. I DO think its necessary to jump on every misuse of the image of a bottle/breaking of the code, because if we don't we are sending a signal that either we don't care, or don't think that it's a problem.

If we are to increase the numbers of babies who are breastfed we must have the proper support in place for mums, and create a culture where breastfeeding is the norm. So we need a two pronged attack, one from government legislating against advertising and imagery, and providing breastfeeding counsellors, and one from the grassroots where mothers can help other mothers to succeed at breastfeeding.

If advertising didn't affect how people think then companies would nt spend a fortune on it.
Complain!!!

I should stop being lazy and do a search but have we had a thread yet on the Mumsnet logo up there?

Hell, I'll email my MEP. I haven't started pestering my MP yet since I moved when I was pg (though have had to email my old one to tell him he can stop sending me stuff now ). I might nick a sentence of yours, pooter, if that's okay? "It just perpetuates the idea that bottle feeding is the norm, and its just the same as breastfeeding. It isnt."

Oh Dita, you steal away - i was sat here having a daydream about logging on to find other more seasoned lactivists telling me to butt out as my poorly worded letter was doing them no favours - so i'm glad i am capable of writing a sensible sentence.

I'm about to go to my Breastfeeding Helpers course now, so i will pester them to complain too.

I cannot for the life of me see what the hell is wrong with that advert/poster or whatever it is, apart from it being incredibly dull and lacking in imagination.

I agree with Jeffrey who replied to you.

nancy66 have you read the thread? I dont mean that in any sarcastic horrible way, but im just worried that my original post didnt explain what the problem was clearly enough. The link posted by chairmummiow is a fantastic explanation - very long, but says exactly why it isnt a helpful image.

Have a read and then let me know what you think. For what its worth my mum and SIL both agree with you.

Yes I've read the thread and hadn't looked at the link you mentioned, but have now.

Hasn't swayed me I'm afraid. The posters aren't promoting forumula, they're not encouraging anybody to do it or saying to ditch breast feeding in favour of it.

Incidentally i don't have a problem with formula advertising either - BUT I do understand why some might.

In this case though - nope, just can't see the harm and think, ultimately, it does your cause no good to obsess on triva - better to sweat the big stuff isn't it?

But don't you agree that they are using a bottle to represent the family, therefore saying that bottle feeding is the norm?

I think the harm is in the fact that not many people think it IS harmful - ie they are promoting the use of bottles but its so ingrained in our population that no one can see it.

We've just been sent this press release. Apparently he'd received a letter of complaint...

STRUAN STEVENSON RELEASE

Scots Tory MEP, Struan Stevenson, has attacked a European Parliament advert for its ?inappropriate use of a baby bottle? calling for the poster to be withdrawn.

The European Parliament?s news service poster has been designed to illustrate the campaign for the forthcoming Euro elections on 4th June 2009. But, according to Struan Stevenson, the bottle undermines breastfeeding and is in breach of a strict International Code of Breast-milk Substitutes which forbids virtually all forms of advertisements and marketing methods for breast-milk substitutes to the general public.

The European Parliament?s advert asks the question ?how should we help balance family and career?? and goes on to raise issues of gender equality, implying that women still get a raw deal compared to men in Europe and urging people to vote in the Euro elections to ensure better equal opportunities in future.

Speaking out against the use of the baby bottle, Scottish Conservative Euro MP Struan Stevenson said:

?The European Parliament really hasn?t done itself any favours with this advert. If the concept was to generate interest and raise awareness of gender equality ahead of the European elections in June, then why did it use an image of a baby?s bottle next to a laptop computer? There are so many other images it could have used in its attempt to contrast family and career issues.

?It is frustrating to think that the EU has totally failed to appreciate the inappropriateness of this image. I intend to find out why this image was chosen and ideally I would like to see this poster withdrawn from use.?

Wonderful

Did you also see this in the guardian - justine mumsnet is quoted... here

Nancy66 - it's all 'small stuff', but the 'small stuff' all adds up to a culture which marginalises breastfeeding - something which is bad for babies and bad for families.

I mean - how would you feel if the majority of references to having a baby focused on surgical birth? And in a culture where there are overly high rates of operative birth caused by, among other things, a failure to understand and work with the parameters of normal labour.

Wowowow I'm soo glad it's not just me who see's things like this and thinks that they should have thought a bit harder before putting it out! Hooray for this discussion! I'm hoping the UK goverment will one day actually implement the WHO code on infant feeding which will help protect BOTTLEFED babies as well as breastfed ones. Funny how when WHO speaks about swine flu everyone sits up and listens, yet mention the code which may just have a bit of a negative affect on certain company profits and WHO are totally ignored.