http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/22/mommy-wars-similac-video_n_6517242.html
I think many here would enjoy seeing this. The end is really what it’s all about! 
@Pizzagirl I thought of you when I saw this.
No one should be shamed for bottle feeding but this ad makes me feel marginalized as someone who breastfed. Similac gets to tag breastfeeders as crunchy and judgemental as they try to appeal to the share of the market who really doesn’t want to breastfeed but does so because of societal pressure. That’s not a small number of people by the way. So, yes this is probably an effective way of marketing formula.
The 'baby-friendly" hospital movement is making it difficult to market to brand new mothers. We will probably see more advertisements like this one which has made the social media rounds.
I breast-fed my kids, so obviously I’m pro breast-feeding, but I completely understand that everyone’s situation is different. I don’t think the piece marginalizes those who breastfeed; I think it shows how each group shakes a finger at the others.
I think it serves as a reminder to everyone (nursers, bottle-feeders, SAHM’s, SAHD’s, working parents, etc) to be more tolerant and supportive of whatever choices a family decides to make. Parenting is a tough job and we need to be supportive.
Sigh…I hate mommy wars.
I hate the mommy wars too - breast versus bottle, working-outside-the-home versus SAHM, disposable versus cloth diapers, co-sleeping versus not. What a waste of time and energy.
I do too. BTW, I breastfed but had to supplement with formula… otherwise my kids would have starved to death. I can’t imagine passing judgment on any woman who chooses one or the other or both.
I had my older two before the internet was big and there were playgroups and discussion forums where women lit into each other over choices like those in the commercial. When I had my third all of that crap was going on and I was SO glad I could just ignore it because I knew what really mattered. I was potty training one while her brother was deployed in the Middle East-I KNEW that whether he’d worn cloth diapers or was breast-fed didn’t matter a damn in the long run.
These kind of things make me so happy that the vast majority of my friends are male.
^^^I will tell you that during my childbearing years, I was never challenged on my parenting choices by other women. Not once. You just have to choose good friends. 
^^^
Right…your FRIENDS you can have control over…it’s your relatives that you don’t. My MIL was very verbal against breastfeeding.
^^^^Well, you’re right about the family part. My mom breastfed all of us at a time when it wasn’t particularly in vogue, but she never pushed it on me. I suspect my MIL was a little taken aback by my breastfeeding at first, though she never said a word to me about it.
I’ve kind of done it all. I breastfed but had to quit for medical reasons with D1. So then I bottle fed. I’ve stayed home with the baby and gone to school part time with a baby and worked full time with a toddler and worked part time with a toddler, stayed home full time with middle schoolers and high schoolers and worked part time with a high schooler.
Maybe my friends and family just couldn’t get a handle on what to criticize! 
Very true about picking your friends.
My childhood best friend just had her 3rd baby yesterday. I couldn’t imagine criticizing her choices. I’m more concentrated on how darned cute they are 
Huh. It’s not just women who participate in the Mommy Wars. My first workplace was largely male and almost all my work friends were male. I still heard:
- “Women really shouldn’t be working when their babies are small. Why did you come back to work so soon?” (I didn’t return to work until D was seven months old.)
- “Your family isn’t a real family until you have at least two children.” (That’s another variation of the Mommy Wars: only-children-families versus families-with-many-children. My choice to have one child was apparently “wrong.”)
In other words - male friends may play the same game. Neither gender has a monopoly on good sense (just like neither gender has a monopoly on stupidity!) Why must parenthood be some kind of competition?
Interesting, scout. I honestly can’t picture a male of my generation saying that. (And, if they do, they wouldn’t be my friends so I’m biased :p) However, I have seen women my age say things to their friends with kids about their decisions.
The neighbor’s baby (who I call my nephew and my mom calls him her adopted grandbaby) eats on demand. When he’s hungry, she feeds him. Her friend criticized this and said that would make him fat. She has her child on a “schedule” but the baby is ALWAYS cranky. When her grandma took the baby for a weekend and fed on demand, the kid was happy. Of course, mom was furious that grandma hadn’t stuck to the “schedule”. (This woman is my age).
I loved the video. That was great.
I think the Mommy Wars are largely fabricated by and spurred on by magazines and TV shows. And now this annoying advertisement which you could think was trying to make a point, except that it’s trying to sell you something. Like all those world peace ads that try to sell you Coca Cola - a bit fishy.
I don’t like reducing people to cartoons either.
I didn’t get the competitive vibe from my female friends.
However a couple men were pretty flummoxed by the idea that we could send our kids to the same “elite” private school as they, even though we didn’t live in the " right" neighborhood or know the" right" people.
I love the Coca Cola parallel except those ones make me feel all warm and fuzzy while this one got my blood pressure up.
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I think the Mommy Wars are largely fabricated by and spurred on by magazines and TV shows.
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lol…If you think that, then you must exist is a very quiet social circle. 
Typically, when you’re pregnant or you’ve recently had a baby, people come out of the woodwork with comments, advice, etc.
I remember when I was pregnant with #1 and (obviously) I didn’t know that I would end up having an emergency-C. I intended to deliver naturally, but WITH DRUGS!!! Yes!!! DRUGS!!! Oh my! Even MEN would criticize my choice (and how DARE THEY??? lol)
I really don’t like this commercial, but since I rarely watch TV, probably will rarely ever see it. I do believe that there are many who are conflicted about the various roles they expect parents (especially moms) to fill–breastfeed, ecological, help with family finances (bring in $$$), be nurturing, and much more.
There is not as much support for each of these roles as would be ideal, and YES, people do subtly and sometimes loudly criticize choices made–why not going back to work? Why staying home? Why disposable diapers? Why cloth diapers? Why STILL nursing? Why still not potty trained? Why NOT have anesthesia? Why allow DRUGS? Why circumcised? Why NOT circumcised? The list goes on & on. Fortunately, if you develop a thick skin and selective deafness and smile & nod, we survive and our kids thrive anyway. 