In the Motrin mamma mania of the past two weeks, offended and tech savvy Twitter, blogger and YouTube mom’s brought down Big Pharma J&J McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit’s new Motrin ad that launched online and in print.
The controversial “negative” ad seriously offended “babywearers” and moms nationwide who felt that it implied moms wear babies in a carrier as a fashion accessory or to make them look like an “official” mom. The bonding, positive experience of the baby carrier was totally overlooked by J&J.
Watch the ad here – do you think it’s offensive?
Here’s the print version (click to enlarge) :
I’ve got to say, its pretty harsh, and yeah, I would say, offensive. I can think of a hundred ways to change the copy to make this ad so much more engaging, appealing, pleasing, and a little more sympathetic and sensitive to moms with small babies.
The VP of Marketing at McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Kathy Widmer, immediately issued her first official apology on the Motrin home page: “We have heard you. On behalf of McNeil Consumer Healthcare and all of us who work on the Motrin brand, please accept our sincere apology. We are in the process of removing this ad from all media. It will, unfortunately, take a bit of time to remove it from our magazine advertising, as it is on newsstands and in distribution.
There is now an updated message from Widmer on Motrin’s home page.
Tweets from both influential mom bloggers with hundreds of followers and regular moms were heard alike. The power of Twitter shows that you don’t have to have thousands of followers on Twitter to start the ball rolling. Tweeters with smaller networks have just as much influence as people with large networks. It works both ways.
Again, we are being shown the power and alacrity of online social networking and how quickly people’s opinions galvanize and proliferate, which in this case, brought down J&J’s national Motrin ad campaign.
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