Motrin Giving Moms a Headache

by erica ~ November 21, 2008

Angry moms are taking charge against a new controversial ad produced by Motrin.

The ad confronts issues that moms may encounter when carrying their kids in a baby-sling across the chest.  Their ad has sayings like “wearing your baby seems to be in fashion;” “these things put a ton of strain on your back, your neck, your shoulders;” and “if I look so tired and crazy, people will understand why.”

What they are trying to say is that being a mom and trying to be fashionable at the same time is painful. Ouch!

The blog, Motherhood Uncensored, did not hold back on their reaction to the 20-something executives that produced the ad:

“… clearly those 20-something year old ad execs who created this ad needed to do a bit more research. Too bad many of these agencies inch out their colleagues-turned-moms who can’t hack the 80 + hour work weeks because they actually want to see their kids before they grow up. Had they actually hired a few moms, I’m pretty sure this ad would have stopped in the board room phase before it even got legs. So, dear Taxi (the ad agency that was responsible for this beauty), if you’re going to do an ad about moms and pain, why not try childbirth? Because if my stitched up Frankengina doesn’t make me look like a tired and crazy “Official Mom,” then I’m not sure what will.”

I’m surprised that Motrin didn’t think about the consequences they would face when releasing such an ad considering that motherhood is such a sensitive issue.

According to Motrin’s website, they have removed this ad from their campaign and released a short statement from their VP of Marketing saying they’re sorry. We’ll see how much this incident will cost them!

Erica Berkovich is an Associate Account Executive at Mediashop PR. She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Corporate Communications at Baruch.