TEXT V
I happily advertise the fact I breastfed – it’s
high time that brands embraced it too
by Nell Frizzell
New ads by Aldi, Adidas and Sainsbury’s all
feature breastfeeding mothers. Hopefully this will
normalize the process to help new parents feed
with ease
It may be some time yet until we see a mother
in an advert precariously balancing her
child/bag/shopping/pets before pushing a nipple
into the mouth of a howling, jam-smeared toddler.
But when they do, oh boy, are my days as a model
really going to get going.
In recent weeks, a series of adverts have
appeared from Tu at Sainsbury’s, Adidas and Aldi,
all featuring breastfeeding mothers. Some are
wearing flowery blouses and have tattoos, others
are holding a naked baby between the zips of a
sports top. Of course the women are good-looking,
of course they are slim, of course we cannot
actually see anything as erotically charged or as
morally unsettling as an areola – this is still
advertising, after all. But it is, surely, a start.
As someone who breastfed her son for 21 shirtlifting, bra-soaking, carefree months, I am of
course pleased to see breastfeeding being held up
as something both everyday and aspirational. It is
as prosaic as a trip to the supermarket yet as
physically impressive as professional sport. It
belongs on billboards and screens as much as
beds and sofas.
here is no such thing as “normal” when it
comes to babies or bodies. But to normalize
something that, in the words of UNICEF, has a
profoundly positive impact on child health, is of
course to be celebrated. You might find yourself
whipping out a boob on a train full of football fans;
you might squirt milk across somebody else’s coat
on the bus; you might find yourself answering the
door with your full breast outside your clothes
without noticing. And if the presence of big brands
behind your bra straps encourage you to keep
feeding, then all power to your elbow. It is a shame
that this hasn’t happened sooner, but it’s better late
than never – and there’s no use crying over spilled
(breast) milk.
(Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2019/oct/02/adve
rts-breastfeeding-mothers-aldi-adidas-sainsburys.Access:
08/01/2020)