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Janelle Sorensen

Monday, November 17, 2008

An amazing thing happened this weekend. On Saturday afternoon I checked my Twitter account and saw that a handful of moms were complaining about a new ad launched by Motrin that morning. They were saying that the ad attacked baby-wearing. Being a fan of the practice, I had to check out what Motrin was saying.

Just like these other moms, I was immediately miffed. The ad was demeaning and simply in poor taste (especially given the fact that they launched it during International Babywearing Week). Among other things, it implied that moms wear babies as a fashion accessory to make us look “official.” I’m not usually this easy to offend, but I was compelled to add my voice to the Twitter complaints and even emailed the company.

I don’t want to get into the details of the ad or the messages from moms; you can read all about it at TheSmartMama, Small Dotts, or Organic Mania. I’d rather share the story of the amazing power of this community.

Here’s what happened in roughly 48 hours:
1. Saturday morning Motrin launches ad.
2. Saturday afternoon moms start Twittering about it and emailing the company.
3. Saturday evening the issue becomes the most widely Tweeted topic, responses are compiled, videos are made, and blogs are written.
4. Sunday morning blogs and videos are published, the word is spreading like butter on a hot tin roof.
5. Sunday afternoon, Motrin pulls the ad and begins posting apologies across the internet.
6. Monday morning, media sources across the globe are talking about the debacle and the overwhelming mom response.

One of my favorite bits of coverage comes from The New York Times blog where they captured the essence of the real story. They quote Peter Shankman, a public relations all-star who knows everything and then some about new media:

“Companies mess up all the time. They fix the problem, and it usually doesn’t make the radar screen. The problem is, Motrin happened to mess up at the expense, and in the face of, one of the most vocal, quickest-to-blog, “strongest-to-band-together-and-form-one-opinion-like-the-Borg” collectives out there - The Mommy-Blogging community.

Now I am NOT slagging on Mommy-Bloggers. Not in the slightest. Nor, am I saying they’re over-reacting to the commercial, which, by rights, was stupid and patronizing. What I AM saying though, is that Motrin will pay a MUCH bigger price, as opposed to if they’d messed up in front of say, “Construction-Worker-Bloggers.” Mommy-Bloggers are not a voice to be messed with, probably because they’re one of the most clearly identifiable voices on the web.”

Let me re-emphasize “Mommy-Bloggers are not a voice to be messed with…”

The response to the Motrin ad demonstrated the force of this new, expanding community. A robust community of moms from all walks of life who are vibrant, passionate, intelligent, and supportive. A community of women who are finding innovative ways to unite with one another and promote our shared values.

So, let’s use this weekend as the spark to light a much bigger effort, because we have much bigger issues to tackle.