If there’s something I absolutely love, it’s when businesses and companies take a stand on important social issues, and wave a big red flag, knowing full well a bull will likely charge in.
That’s exactly what Tommee Tippee has done. Its red flag was a video ad called The Boob Life.
Tommee Tippee has produced an incredibly bold and raw new advert about the realities of breastfeeding life and – shock horror – it includes nipples.
Australian ad review platform, ClearAds, promptly slapped an MA15+ rating on the video, declaring it ‘nudity’. Facebook refused to approve the ad, even though an edited ‘no nipple’ version was also submitted.
Tommee Tippee knows how important it is for breastfeeding not to be censored if we’re ever to normalize it.
Hiding the realities of breastfeeding is really damaging – to generations of women. This kind of censorship sends a negative message to mums and women in general. It suggests there’s something inappropriate, shameful and wrong about breastfeeding. It teaches our children breastfeeding should be hidden away.
It also affects men and women’s partners; research shows partners play a significant role when it comes to breastfeeding duration.
Tommee Tippee isn’t the only company trying to normalize women’s issues. Previously, Modibodi faced a similar problem after creating an advert for its period underwear last year. It showed red menstrual blood instead of using blue dye. What a crime!
Research by Tommee Tippee revealed 93% of mothers said the emotional, mental and physical challenges of infant feeding are under-acknowledged by society, and the way we speak to mums and pregnant women needs to change.
What’s ‘The Boob Life’ All About?
The Boob Life is all about putting mums first, front and centre, with an honest and raw portrayal of breastfeeding.
The ad features real mums, in a range of real-life feeding experiences. You can’t get more diverse than that!
The video includes mothers who are:
- Bottle feeding after a mastectomy
- Tandem feeding newborn twins
- Pumping with an arm disability.
These real and down-to-earth feeding moments are usually restricted to the privacy of our own homes, and only rarely captured on screen. Many children grow up without seeing a woman breastfeeding her baby, and comfortably at that.
The Boob Life dares to share all – from breast-pumping to leaking, milky, post-feed breasts and milk squirting from a nipple.
“The fact that it’s 2021 and advertisers are still calling breastfeeding women inappropriate is a worrying indicator of how we as a nation are treating mums”, says Tommee Tippee’s Marketing Manager, Vanessa Gonzalez.
Gonzalez continues: “We know from our research that 93% of mums feel the emotional, mental, and physical challenges of infant feeding are under-acknowledged by society. It’s disappointing that advertisers aren’t down to help normalize the conversation around breastfeeding.”
Censoring The Boob Life only reinforces outdated attitudes towards feeding that create damaging situations for mums,” she adds.
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Boobs, breasts, and nipples are all part of being a woman. Numerous countries around the world have significantly raised their breastfeeding rates after their governments invested in educational and supportive breastfeeding adverts on television.
By aiming to normalize all sorts of feeding moments mums experience every day, Tommee Tippee is showing they understand mums, and support them in their feeding journeys – no matter what path that journey takes.
“If just one mum walks away feeling more confident and accepted for who she is after watching The Boob Life, then we’ve done our job right”, says Gonzalez.
Watch ‘The Boob Life’
Ready to watch it? Of course, you are. Enjoy this 30-second version of The Boob Life.
Watch the uncut version of ‘The Boob Life’ via the Tommee Tippee website: www.tommeetippee.com.au.
