Hey Motrin? Bite me.

So I guess I didn't scare you off, huh? Good! Welcome back!

I’ve seen a few blog posts today ranting about the new Motrin “baby wearing” commercial – first from Carrie at Natural Moms Talk Radio and Katja Presnal of Skimbaco then from Kris at Motherverse. Since I hadn’t seen the commercial I had no idea what the big deal was. I just assumed it was another accidental slam against attachment parenting by a clueless marketing department. And I even though I support AP I’m not some kind of activist. As far as I’m concerned, it falls under that whole “live and let live” umbrella along with gay marriage. We should all have the right to live our lives according to what works best for us.

In other words…meh.

But then I watched the commercial. Its not just a misinformed but well-meaning nod to moms who carry their babies in slings or wraps. They pissed off a LOT of moms.

Here’s the link to the video if you haven’t seen it: https://www.motrin.com/index.jhtml

First of all, Motrin people, never ever refer to a parenting method as “in fashion”. Moms who use baby slings are maintaining a natural bond with our children through contact, not trying to squeeze our asses into skinny jeans. I carried my oldest child, who is now 18, in something that looked like a backpack. There was nothing fashionable about that thing. Yeah the slings and wraps are getting cuter but this isn’t a fashion trend.

Next, whats with the “supposedly its a bonding experience” stuff? You know who you sounded like, Motrin people? John McCain with his condescending air quotes around “health of the mother.” There’s no supposing about it. It is.

Here’s the part that just made me a lifelong Advil customer. (Actually, generic ibuprofen will do just as well.) “Plus it totally makes me look like an official mom.” Excuse me?? So if we’re not walking around with a baby strapped to our hip, we don’t look like an official mom? Get bent, Motrin.

I’d love to be a fly on the wall in some of these big corporate marketing department meetings. There’s gotta be at least 10, 15 people who are part of this process, right? And not one of them ever raised their hand and said “Um, excuse me, I think you’re going to totally alienate the entire demographic that you’re trying to win over with this.” Seriously, they insulted all moms with this thing, baby-wearers or not.

But what would I know. I’m just as “tired and crazy” as the rest of the unofficial moms out there.

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