This morning I got home from work at 6am and before I went to sleep I checked out my Twitter, just to see what’s going on in the world. I wasn’t surprised to see the usual internet-narrations of just about everything: “I’m eating here” or “I’m going there” or “I just made Palidin level 71.” But what I WAS surprised to see was something that I had heard nothing about previously: all the moms calling for a boycott of Motrin, the over-the-counter pain reliever.
This caught my attention for two reasons: the first, because I couldn’t imagine why this boycott was urged by all of the sweet, nurturing moms out there, and secondly because Twitter was being used to spread the word faster than any rally, news article, cable news network, even blog.
As it turns out, Motrin has a video ad on their site that is a graphical “momologue” – that is, a narration by a mom set to some (very well done, in my opinion) images and moving text. However, this ad is apparently offensive to many of the moms out here. Here’s a YouTube link to the ad (which may or may not stay up very long); here is the text of the ad, followed by more on the controversy:
Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion. I mean in theory it’s a great idea. And who knows what else they’ve come up with. Wear your baby on your side, your front, go hands free. Supposedly, it’s a real bonding experience. They say that babies carried close to the bod tend to cry less than others. But what about me? Do moms that wear their babies cry more than those who don’t? I sure do! These things put a ton of strain on your back, your neck, your shoulders. Did I mention your back?! I mean, I’ll put up with the pain because it’s a good kind of pain; it’s for my kid. Plus, it totally makes me look like an official mom. And so if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why.
So, as the story goes, somewhere between about 2 and 4am PST a discussion was struck up on Twitter about this ad, with a simple question asking what people thought about it, and it all kind of snowballed from there, getting its own hashtag on Twitter (#motrinmoms) and becoming the number one search result on Twitter by about 4am PST.
And, as you can imagine, there’s a huge online uproar about it, and whoever is in charge of PR over at Motrin, and probably enjoying their day off, will probably get wind of this via some newssource and most likely have a lot of explaining, or at the very least apologizing, to do come Monday morning. Who knows how many pissed off motrinmoms there will be by then!
This is simply another case of widespread overreacting started by few and encouraged by many. And before I get a bunch of nasty emails and comments, I KNOW I don’t understand what it is like to be a mom, or a woman, or whatever, but seriously – I’ve heard many women complain about tiredness or pain from carrying their baby. Perhaps alluding to a baby as a fashion accessory is a bit insensitive, but I assure you that Motrin wasn’t trying to offend anyone. If anything, they were making a social commentary about the craziness of all of our gadgets and hands-free stuff and electronics clipped onto our pants, shirts, belts, etc (ironically, many such electronics were used to twitter about this very subject, I’m sure). Heck, even if they were referring to babies as a fashion accessory, think about Angelina Jolie, her adopted kids, and all the other celebrities who just about compete to have the cutest or best-dressed kid, or the most recently born baby. So perhaps in that sense, even if that IS what Motrin was getting at, they’re not far off.
Though that may not be an excuse, we all know that there ARE some people out there who DO have babies for selfish reasons that are as bad or worse as needing something to wear with their favorite jeans. For example: “If I get pregnant, we’ll stay together and things will be fine” or “I’m bored, unloved, and lonely, let me have a kid then something will love me and I’ll have something to do.”
These instances are admittedly rare, and most likely none of the moms at #motrinmoms would fit anywhere in these categories – I mean, it’s obvious they love their kids and are probably GREAT moms – but c’mon, you all own strollers. You all don’t carry your baby around ALL the time. The truth is you DO get tired, you DO hurt sometimes. All Motrin is saying that when carrying around a ten pound baby does hurt, they’re there for you. Plus, it is a psychological FACT that babies who are physically interacted with (i.e. being carried right up close to mom) are more emotionally in-touch with themselves and stable as children and adults. They mention this in the ad, and actually give all the moms that DO carry their kids a pat on the back for doing so – “I’ll put up with the pain because it’s a good kind of pain; it’s for my kid.” WOW! They’re tipping their hat to all you moms for tolerating pain or discomfort on behalf of your children because they KNOW you do tolerate it, because you all are great moms and would do anything for your kids.
To me, that is not offensive at all, it’s a salute to all of you moms who are complaining about this for being so tough and willing to do whatever it takes so your kid can have the best in life. And yeah, perhaps their attempt at modern humor failed, and isn’t receiving the reaction they want – but watch it again, and think of what they were going for – a tip of the hat to all of you loving moms out there who will tolerate the discomfort and the pain, in order to keep your baby just a little bit closer to you, or give them a slight advantage in any way. All Motrin is saying is that they give you all mad props, and understand the crap a lot of you go through as moms, and as such want to return the favor by helping you get rid of whatever pain you may have.
So relax, #motrinmoms (and now #motrindads) – no harm was intended.
And a note to all of our normal readers – I know this post wasn’t as saucy, insulting, and crass as our normal posts, but truthfully, I’m kinda scared of these motrinmoms. I mean damn, they carry around babies all day, pain-free. I salute them too, because I know I couldn’t do that. If I did work for Motrin though, I’d be even more scared, and probably would need a new set of pants by now. Any volunteers to change me?
Slapbacks