Monday
Sep052011
When a Company Goes from Good to Very, Very Bad: The Evenflo Story
Monday, September 5, 2011
A couple of years ago, I was asked to review the new Evenflo breast pump. I received the pump by mail, gave it a try, and wrote an honest review. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of good things to say about the pump. I did, however, have some good things to say about the company at the time. In the review, I noted that:
That, unfortunately, has all changed. It seems that several months ago, Evenflo decided that it cared more about selling bottles and pumps than it did about truly supporting breastfeeding. It decided to stop complying with the WHO's International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. In other words, it is now just like every other bottle and formula manufacturer out there -- working hard to convince moms that breastfeeding is inconvenient, embarrassing and difficult.
I first noticed their new tactics when I saw a few people questioning @EvenfloBaby on twitter about tweets that made breastfeeding in public and in front of the in-laws seem...weird. Tweets like this one:
Forced to feed on-the-go? I don't know about you, but I was never forced to feed on-the-go. I loved the fact that I could breastfeed anytime, anywhere. In fact, I loved it so much and feel so strongly about it that I wrote 50 reasons for breastfeeding anytime, anywhere and Would You, Could You, Nurse in Public? and made my Covering Up is a Feminist Issue video. A tweet like the one from Evenflo isn't directly telling moms that breastfeeding in public is inappropriate, but it does insinuate that perhaps they should feel a bit uncomfortable about it.
But that wasn't it. Once I started looking at some more of Evenflo's tweets and clicking on some of the links, I found their videos. This company, which used to support breastfeeding moms and provide them with links to excellent breastfeeding support, now makes videos intended to make breastfeeding look difficult and to humourously position their products (be it a breast pump or a bottle) as the way to save the day.
Take a look at this one, with the critical mother-in-law and uncomfortable father-in-law. Instead of telling them to "F%&K Off" (or getting her spouse to do so -- after all, they are his parents!), she rushes to the back room to pump a bottle so that the in-laws can feed the baby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_90lwKiqG7s&feature=relmfu
That is just one of several new videos intended to promote their breast pump and their bottles and make them seem more convenient and less embarrassing than just breastfeeding.
Do we really need companies like Evenflo to reinforce the myths about breastfeeding and make moms feel like it is uncomfortable or inconvenient? What if we lived in a world where we weren't taught to expect society (and our in-laws) to criticize us for feeding our babies?
Update: Evenflo apologizes several times and eventually gets it right.
There are a few things that I liked that are not specifically about the pump, but that I think are important and commendable:
- Last year, Evenflo became the first baby bottle manufacturer to become compliant with the World Health Organization’s International Code for the Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes
- There was a Breastfeeding information and support card included with the pump that had the URLs and phone numbers of some excellent resources for breastfeeding and breastfeeding at work. This is a departure from many bottle/formula manufacturers that tend to provide their own 1-800 number for not so great support.
That, unfortunately, has all changed. It seems that several months ago, Evenflo decided that it cared more about selling bottles and pumps than it did about truly supporting breastfeeding. It decided to stop complying with the WHO's International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. In other words, it is now just like every other bottle and formula manufacturer out there -- working hard to convince moms that breastfeeding is inconvenient, embarrassing and difficult.
I first noticed their new tactics when I saw a few people questioning @EvenfloBaby on twitter about tweets that made breastfeeding in public and in front of the in-laws seem...weird. Tweets like this one:
Forced to feed on-the-go? I don't know about you, but I was never forced to feed on-the-go. I loved the fact that I could breastfeed anytime, anywhere. In fact, I loved it so much and feel so strongly about it that I wrote 50 reasons for breastfeeding anytime, anywhere and Would You, Could You, Nurse in Public? and made my Covering Up is a Feminist Issue video. A tweet like the one from Evenflo isn't directly telling moms that breastfeeding in public is inappropriate, but it does insinuate that perhaps they should feel a bit uncomfortable about it.
But that wasn't it. Once I started looking at some more of Evenflo's tweets and clicking on some of the links, I found their videos. This company, which used to support breastfeeding moms and provide them with links to excellent breastfeeding support, now makes videos intended to make breastfeeding look difficult and to humourously position their products (be it a breast pump or a bottle) as the way to save the day.
Take a look at this one, with the critical mother-in-law and uncomfortable father-in-law. Instead of telling them to "F%&K Off" (or getting her spouse to do so -- after all, they are his parents!), she rushes to the back room to pump a bottle so that the in-laws can feed the baby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_90lwKiqG7s&feature=relmfu
That is just one of several new videos intended to promote their breast pump and their bottles and make them seem more convenient and less embarrassing than just breastfeeding.
Do we really need companies like Evenflo to reinforce the myths about breastfeeding and make moms feel like it is uncomfortable or inconvenient? What if we lived in a world where we weren't taught to expect society (and our in-laws) to criticize us for feeding our babies?
Update: Evenflo apologizes several times and eventually gets it right.
Reader Comments (185)
Thanks AM. Breastfeeding is so important, yet sometimes so tough for moms of multiples - glad you had such a great run with both of yours.
Oops - didn't mean to take the stream away from the subject matter, but did want to also say thanks to you to Ronise - and I'm in awe, nursing twins at the county fair. I would not have felt comfortable enough to try that - GREAT JOB!
Well, even if you breastfeed you might need a pump, especially if you have to go back to work full-time. And, with multiples, feeding the babies becomes everyone's job, even though this Mom wanted to do it all herself. However, even if I still needed a pump, I don't think I'd be looking at an Evenflo one.
Well now I can't even see the video to decide. :(
I am so SO bummed that evenflo took down this video just before I tried to watch it....but reading all the comments, I am certain it would have just incensed me. Thank you Annie! Look at you, changing the world through blogging!!
p.s. - pumping sucks and it's hard time-consuming work for little reward. If ANYONE but my baby drank my hard-pumped milk, I'd be absolutely livid!
Belittling breastfeeding is not a way to "support all moms’ choices".
FYI: That link is such PR .
Kudos to Annie for speaking out and getting results!
Claiming to support WHO doesn't make up for the fact you DO the opposite with commercials like this. Show how pumps help moms in NICU, forced to go back to work, to share night feedings (when they want to) BUT don't don't share this fact with the inlaws, or how it helps relieve overfull boobies when a baby FINALLY sleeps several hours.
Stuff that DOESN'T promote women being bullied or being ashamed to nurse.
Here's what's wrong with the commercial.
1. The grandmother is verbally abusive. She criticizes the mother's breast size in front of everyone and perpetuates a myth about breast-size being related to breast milk production.
2. The grandfather acts like she's masturbating on the couch, thus perpetuating the idea that breastfeeding is a sexual act, even though you have to look pretty close and carefully at a breastfeeding baby to actually see a nipple because it is generally covered up by a baby using it to eat.
3. The husband does not stand up for his wife and let's his mother verbally abuse her.
4. The grandmother continues to bully the mother about feeding the baby. Instead of standing up for herself and setting some healthy boundaries, the angry mother becomes a doormat and gives in by taking the time out from her own activities to pump milk, thus reinforcing the grandmother's passive-aggressive tactics.
5. Everyone is horrified that the grandfather has accidentally consumed breast milk, as though sweet and fresh human milk is far more disgusting than the processed excretions of an entirely different species. This perpetuates the myth that breast milk is unclean, gross or otherwise unpleasant.
6. Gathered together, Evenflo has employed the same tactics that many unethical advertisers use to prey on the insecurities of women and give them the false belief that they need to be skinnier, wear more make up, wear different clothes, or use a certain cleaning product in order to be accepted by their families and peers. Evenflo is projecting the idea that women need to give in to outside pressures and be people-pleasers instead of stand up for themselves. It's sophisticated bullying.
7. This commercial is NOTHING like your situation if you were unable to breastfeed. THAT would have been a less offensive commercial - one where a mom wants to breastfeed and can't, so grandma and grandpa pitch in for some bottles and the last scene is everyone standing around a smiling mama feeding her hungry baby with the pitch "When it doesn't work out the way you hoped, we're here for you." This commercial was not that at all, and your sour grapes bitterness is being taken out on the wrong party.
Thank you for the laugh. Who is the one with sour grapes bitterness? Oh that is right you who is reading far too much into a simple commercial. Again, though I enjoyed laughing at this some more.
Yup, exactly how I said, this accurately portrays the stories of many a woman and helps them identify with the situation and product.
Though I will say this it was only mildly humorous (2% joke) but otherwise was much too long certainly to be a commercial. I would say that 30seconds would have been sufficient.
Could someone post a link to the video? It's being blocked on this site now and I can't watch it. (Which is probably just as well, but still...)
Or perhaps someone captured the video and can post it on youtube...with a careful dissection of the underlying messages.
The videos do accurately reflect the criticisms that nursing moms face--but then it said "All your detractors are right. Don't stand up for yourself. Hide when you nurse, or better yet, don't nurse. Our product can be your secret weapon in knuckling under to whatever criticism you face in our lactiphobic society."
Boo. Hiss.
Arly, I wish I'd thought of that. I hope someone did.
Jodine/Arly:
I watched it enough times that I can probably do a play-by-play with dissection of the problems. Perhaps I'll do that tomorrow (swamped today!).
Thank you, Lisa! XOXO!
every way i try to get to the video, it says that it is private. i would assume evenflo took it down...
They did take it down. They commented on this post about it too.
Did they try formula milk? They should have done so we could see their faces then
I described it as thoroughly (but briefly... er... you know what I mean) as I could remember on my post. Correct me if I got something wrong!
Claiming that Evenflo's actions don't affect Ameda is like Nestle claiming that buy buying out health food products like PowerBar that they're a health food company. It doesn't work that way.
[...] Stork Left a Present in my Uterus After the latest fiasco with EvenFlo’s latest marketing attempt via a distasteful video depicting grandparents as unsupportive and judgmental of breastfeeding, I [...]
The video has now been made private. Guilty much Evenflo?
You think that's bad? When I had my son, someone gifted me a box of La Leche League bra pads. On the package, it had a list of benefits that included "prevents embarrassing leaks."
I never used them. I'm breastfeeding, I leak, everyone understands. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. But I was so disappointed to see La Leche using such off-putting language in relation to breastfeeding...
[...] A couple of days ago, I wrote a post about tweets and videos by Evenflo that were undermining mothers and depicting breastfeeding as inconvenient, embarrassing and [...]
I posted an update on the Evenflo story here: http://www.phdinparenting.com/2011/09/05/when-a-company-goes-from-good-to-very-very-bad-the-evenflo-story/
"I would hazard a guess that their target group are women who either can’t breastfeed or are struggling with it and can’t take it anymore." Actually, just the opposite. They are targeting the women who are doing well with breastfeeding, as the woman in the commercial is. They create an artificial, manmade barrier to breastfeeding for women who have no problems, then provide a "solution" for the so-called "problem" they have created just for the moms who really have no problems.
Hardly comparable. Especially since LLL's entire purpose is to encourage, promote and facilitate breastfeeding.
DO you have the video we're talking about? I've browsing for it and had not luck finding it anymore.
I used Evenflo bottles and I think I had a pump from them. Well, the pump never worked for me, but I successfully breastfed my older daughter to 15 months (when she decided she was done and rather wanted a sibling) and still breastfeed her 17-months old sister. I went back to work full-time when the girls were 5 and 3 months old, respectively and pumped BY HAND! Worked better for me than any pump! Now, I love the text "forced to feed on-the-go". Here's my scenario: I am SOMEWHERE, my baby's hungry. I find a cozy, if possible private area and nursed her. Bottlefeeding scenario: Your baby is hungry while you're out. You try to find a place to warm the bottle. You have to mix the bottle, warm it, and by then, the poor little one is crying her lungs out. Breastfeeding me is done and on the go again with a happy baby.. So tell me, what's more convenient??
[...] from PhD in Parenting posted an article alerting the internet to Evenflo’s new ad campaign: When a Company Goes from Good to Very, Very Bad: The Evenflo Story and tweeted it to her 60,000 + followers on [...]
[...] Wikileaks revealed that the U.S has been lobbying against breastfeeding campaigns in the Philippines. PhD in Parenting wrote about Evenflo breast pumps, and how a company goes from good to very, very bad. [...]
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