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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Anyone seen the MN microsite?

179 replies

hunkermunker · 15/11/2007 22:22

here

I've a couple of comments about it - especially the bf section (surprise, surprise!).

And the weaning section.

OP posts:
JustineMumsnet · 16/11/2007 00:22

Yes that's true VVVQ but a lot of our ads/ online chats don't go along with that philosophy - why is this one so offensive?

VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/11/2007 00:23

AND i think it diminutises tiktok and hunker who seem to know far more than this "expert" whose qualifications seem a bit like those of other "experts".

VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/11/2007 00:23

That long schpeel isnt chat though. Its just a bullshit advert with bollox advice.

JustineMumsnet · 16/11/2007 00:24

Why belittling? And please do highlight anything that's factually incorrect - we'll make sure Avent see it and change the copy immediately.

Tinker · 16/11/2007 00:25

Because it's not going to be impartial. There will (I assume) always be an attempt to promote an Avent product. If I told her that I found Avent breastpads useless and what else could she recommend, she wouldn't suggest another brand. She's not giving advice (that's not especially needed anyway?) because she wants to but rather as an opportunity to promote Avent/Phillips - her employers.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/11/2007 00:27

how long b/milk keeps in the fridge.

stuff on weaning.

It's belittling because its an advert thinly veiled as advice. It's a croc of shit and I never thought you guys actually needed to enter into this kind of crap.

i mean, by all means advertise.

ANd have live chats - great.

But to advertise under the thinly guised veil of a live chat is shit.

AitchTwoOh · 16/11/2007 00:27

it just stinks, Justine, we all know that Philips Avent don't really want women to breastfeed, there's not the money in it.

best case scenario is that they bf for a while (£130 bfing kit) and then 'fail' and move on to bottle feeding (another £130). ker-ching.

so what is the point of her, other than as a marketing tool for non-exclusive bfing? why is she any more qualified than tiktok and hunker et al? i was so PROUD to be an MNer when the whole NetMums/Nescafe thing broke... this takes the shine off in a massive way.

JustineMumsnet · 16/11/2007 00:27

Do you think it diminishes Tiktok/Hm's advice because it's there or because it's on Talk? (by the way if it's the latter I do kinda see what you mean - it maybe that we shouldn't Talk shouldn't be used for this kind of stuff?)

VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/11/2007 00:27

er...i think tinker explained it better

JustineMumsnet · 16/11/2007 00:30

Well actually I don't know if that's true Aitch - I exclusively breastfed 4 kids but used a lot of Avent products along the way - but that's by the by I guess - what's more important is that if it feels that way to folks then it's clearly counter-productive.

VVQ lots of ads are thinly veiled as advice imo.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/11/2007 00:30

YEs! Advertise, but dont abuse the talk board to do so.

I mean, we all know that competitions are a way of companies promoting products - and we know that it means you get much needed reviews etc.

This is fine. We all know the 'rules'.

As for the £130 for the b/feeding kit - talk about making the masses think even more that b/feeding is for the middle classes.

I mean FGS! It's undermining everything that tiktok and hunker have been trying to do for the last couple of years.

AitchTwoOh · 16/11/2007 00:30

what's in it for MN, Justine? that might help us to understand it better...

JustineMumsnet · 16/11/2007 00:31

Cash.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/11/2007 00:32

Yes they are justine. But, on a parenting board that prides itself on steering clear of formula ads etc, I would have thought that the last thing you'd do is accept an advert that was directly patronising to parents.

I feel let down.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/11/2007 00:33

So Mumsnet get the cash, or you guys at MNHQ? Because to me - there is a slight difference......

AitchTwoOh · 16/11/2007 00:37

well Justine maybe as a 'failed' bfer i feel the might of the formula marketing machine more keenly, perhaps i'm over-sensitive to it even? i'll hold my hands up to that, no problem.

thing is, if you look at the recent bfing threads, there are a lot of people on MN who feel totally fucked-over by medics, HVs and family members so inculcated by the formula and bottle etc companies that they basically undermined our bfing.

if i had a pound for every person i've seen say 'if only i'd known about MN when i was going through my bfing hell...' i certainly wish i'd known about it.

one of the reasons i came here was because it didn't have product placement 'experts'. i trust tiktok and hunker, i've seen the good work they do and if i have another child i'll need them terribly. and they do it for free...

JustineMumsnet · 16/11/2007 00:38

Tinker, I do see your point - but it's an uncensored public forum and the beauty is, you can say what you like - if we were sitting here editing posts then I could see your beef but the very fact that you can say all this - in fact (within reason) whatever you like about this campaign in some ways makes it less misleading than a banner campaign. Having said that, as said already I think we probably shouldn't let Talk be used in this way as a rule pretty much because I do sympathise with the "it just doesn't feel right argument". So there we are - we have probably just hit upon a new guideline for MN advertising...

MrsJohnCusack · 16/11/2007 00:39

am cross too
have posted on other thread
'tis advertising bolleaux. At least it's fairly blatant

baby rice is such utter, utter crapola

VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/11/2007 00:39

But you are still going to continue with it?

hunkermunker · 16/11/2007 00:40

Just a cursory squiz at the bf, weaning or sleep boards will show you that there are many, many dedicated MNers who give their own time freely to answer questions like Vicki Scott's being sponsored to answer.

That's what I thought the MN ethos was - women helping each other, without corporate bullshit getting in the way. The answers are biased towards Avent products - obviously.

My comments re the copy on the microsite are:

"Expressing is really easy." - not for some women - and hand expressing is often easier, but no mention of that, because it's a promotion of Avent products, so I think that's unhelpful.

The whole thing about storage of breastmilk doesn't follow latest research - it can be kept a lot longer than that safely.

Not happy about the weaning advice and the four month mention - and you have the fantastic, clever, witty Aitch on MN and you go with "dropping consistency baby rice" instead?

And for sterilising, you have RTKM's thread But she doesn't sell sterilisers, I guess.

And the sleep stuff is harsh, imo.

But what I really object to is "an expert" - a "childcare guru" being sanctioned by MN - look at the thread asking for questions - things that MNers can and have answered in the past. My concern is that better advice from an impartial bf counsellor will be overlooked in favour of somebody who's done a three day Unicef course. And that would be a crying shame.

OP posts:
JustineMumsnet · 16/11/2007 00:40

VVVQ - MN get's the cash which pays the guys at MNHQ's wages - without it we don't get paid... there's not a lot of difference tbh.

AitchTwoOh · 16/11/2007 00:41

gawd, if it's cash and you need it... so difficult. i do smell a faint hint of Nescafe but business is business.
don't want to argue with you but i do feel that part of the MN brand is its ethical stance (and you know i absolutely agree that there has to be a limit to how far you can take it and keep doiing your jobs). i'd be wary of deals such as these, i think they may be doing harm to your brand. but there's a cost/benefit thing that obv we're not privy to.

hunkermunker · 16/11/2007 00:42

Ah, and in the time it took me to word that without saying fuck, you all said it all anyway

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VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/11/2007 00:42

Yes, but Justine - a party aint a party without the guests.

Mumsnet, to my mind, is the members within. You guys are very kindly hosting it, and yes - you should get paid - I'm not objecting to that AT ALL.

But to say "Mumsnet" gets the cash isnt strictly the truth. Because "we" are mumsnet.

hunkermunker · 16/11/2007 00:43

Can I just make it clear once again that I'm not a bfc.

I'll mudwrestle most HVs and win on the topic though

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