There's an ad for a painkiller that's caused such a storm in the US that my head is whirling from reading about it in blogs.
Here in Australia, we have only seen this Motrin Ad on people's blogs. And I am at a great disadvantage because I have no speakers or headphones on my computer so I can't hear any of the video responses. Thankfully the ad itself was visual, so I think I get the gist, but I understand from comments on blogs that it's the flip, condescending voice that put people off more. And that's the bit I'm not getting from my computer.
I was a bit shocked to see responses on youtube from "outraged baby-wearing mommas" and I decided not to click on them, partly because they scared me a bit and partly because I wouldn't be able to hear them anyway.
This was the only video response that I could understand without the benefit of sound on my computer:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=TpqpAGLS2t4&feature=related
Initially, I had embedded it into this post, but the screen that it rested on was a bit of a shock, given the tone of "Killing A Fly" so I took the embedded video out and left you the link. Do click on it. It's great.
And here's the embarrassing bit. I must be terribly backward and stupid and wrong and a bad mother, but to tell you the honest truth ...
with no fake smiling ...
or lies ...
I - er - sorta...
Oh I can't say this...
whenIwearmybabyinoneofthosethingsmybackhurtsalittlewellactuallyitsortahurtsalot.
There. It's out. Firebomb my house if you wish. Blame it on the fact that I don't have speakers and therefore have missed the entire point of the commercial and all the responses to it. But it's true.
29 November 2008
Storm in a Sipper Cup
Labels: weird
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11 comments:
Okay, I admit I don't have kids, but I have carried babies around for hours in a sling to give their mother a break so I have SOME experience. And.... wearing a baby for hours DID make my back hurt.
It seems to me that the anti-Motrin responses aren't that great for mothers. If I were a mother with a sore back from carrying my child around, those videos would make me feel like a bad mother, since everyone else is saying, "How dare you imply that we have pain? WE HAVE NO PAIN!" Well... maybe YOU don't but some women do and that doesn't make them a failure.
And... why is it okay to admit to back pain when you're pregnant but not to admit to it when you're carrying something much heavier in essentially the same position?
Is THAT what the responses were saying? I wish I could hear them, in an "I'm scared of you because you're so angry but I don't know why" sort of way.
Thanks for telling me what they're going on about :)
They said different things, but the gist seemed to be "I carry my child around because I WANT to, not because I feel I HAVE to, and by the way I have no back or neck pain at all, you stupid male corporate bigwig." Maybe I'm just not getting it, but I didn't get the impression the ad was trying to say women are wrong or stupid to carry their babies in a sling; I thought it was simply trying to say, "This is a thing that loads of women do and all power to you - but the reality is, it makes your back hurt (so please buy our product)." I didn't take it as a slur against mothers... but then again, I'm not a mother so maybe my radar isn't tuned the same way.
Thanks for that - that seems to be the gist I've read on comments to other people's blogs since I posted this. I'm with you, Femina. I don't take offence easily, and usually give people the benefit of the doubt. Something has to be really in-your-face offensive before I get my hackles up.
My hubby always did most of the carrying-in-a-harness stuff for our babies. I though it was only fair. But he's built like some sort of well bred pack animal, so no pain relief was needed.
(Only earplugs for our little screaming bundles of joy)
I did most of the baby carting but I swore by my 'hug-a-bub' 'cause it supported my weakened lower back muscles courtesy of pregnancy.
Did however have fun strapping hubby into said baby carrier (which is technically a 6f long piece of material which you wrap around yourself like a pretzel and then slip baby into).
Becka
Hmmmm, now, I wasn't an official "Baby-Wearer" in the sense that some moms are - the *always* carrying my baby, in a sling, 24 hours a day kind, I mean.
I did use a Baby Bjorn carrier when Kiddo was a baby, usually for things like when doing the grocery shopping or if we were going on a walk or to the zoo or something.
And it didn't *really* hurt, either, but that's because my kid was kind of a peanut and I'm kind of a (not-so-well-bred) pack animal, with sturdy hips and back from all the years wrassling sheep on the farm growing up.
What did hurt? My left arm, especially the elbow, because I was forever holding Kiddo on my left hip with my left arm crooked about her. I also use my left shoulder for the phone, and that particular bit o' multitasking frequently left me in a Quasimodo impression by the end of the day, tilted to the left a bit.
All that being said, I personally wasn't horrifically offended by the ad. (Which, by the by, I've only seen on blogs and other places on the interwebz. Never did see it on TV even though I live in the US.) I can *see* where some folks (dare I call them the "more militant" baby-wearing moms? No, probably not) could be offended, but I hear the VO's voice as being more snarky than condescending. It's all shades of gray in the world of snark........
I did, however, find the boob job response heeeeelarious!
Enough rambling in the comments? Clearly I've not caffeinated enough yet this morning to clear out my sleep-befogged brain...
You are cracking me up. Also, you are not alone. My back hurts too and I think that those baby slings and such are kinda annoying. Now who is going to get the rocks thrown at her house?
Um, my back hurts too when I carry my kid. But he is 5 and almost 50 pounds, so I thought that it had something to do with THAT. I guess I was totally wrong, and when I think really hard, it was hard to carry him.
Not the "Oh I HAVE TO DO THIS because I'm a martyr" kind that the bitchy betty in the commercial implies, nor is it enough to warrant a riot. But you know what, whatever makes you happy.
If anyone throws rocks at your house for saying that, I will personally kick their butt and then break down their glass house!
heymybackstillhurtsandthelasttimeiheldababywaswellyesterdaybutIdontneedmotrinjustsleep
I tried 3 slings/carriers, they all hurt after a while, two were the carry in front type, one was a fabric sling thing that was ok, but I could never position the baby properly in it...
I can't get utube on my dialup, so thanks for telling me what the video was all about, I was clueless...
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