November 17, 2008

"Motrin moms," a-Twitter over ad, take on Big Pharma--And win

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Hell apparently hath no fury like a Motrin mom scorned. It began innocently enough—a painkiller ad targeted to aching moms. But seems the spot touched a nerve in the ever-growing blogging mom community, drawing heat for claims that ibuprofen (brand name Motrin) could help cure the pain in the neck, not to mention back and shoulders, caused by carrying a baby in a sling, wrap or "schwing."

Scores of angry moms took to Twitter to slam the ad's flip tone (the narrator brags that toting her baby "close to the bod ... totally makes me look like an official mom"). A number of Twitterers took offense at the spot's lament: "And so if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why." A typical response echoed this one posted by homemakerbarbi: "I love my front carrier, and don't appreciate being told I look 'crazy' for baby-wearing. Bad job this time, Motrin."

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the maker of Motrin, responded by taking the ad down from the Motrin Web site. Marc Boston, McNeil's director of communications, read a prepared statement when contacted by phone, apologizing for "any concerns raised" by the advertisement. "We have taken immediate action to respond to these concerns and have removed the advertisement from our Web site," Boston says. "Unfortunately it will take longer for us to remove this advertisement from magazines, as several are currently on newsstands and in distribution."

Motrin.com even went silent briefly today amid the kerfuffle before reappearing with a homepage apology to those offended. As for the ad, it carries on, despite its death by a thousand tweets, thanks to another Web behemoth. The spot, plus the requisite response videos, are available over at YouTube.

CREDIT: John Hurley/iStockphoto

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