http://adage.com/article?article_id=132787

I think the key lesson learned here is to first participate in the social media venues where you want to ultimately connect. If Motrin had spent time listening, learning, and participating with their target they would have had better context by which to deliver a message that connected with people and fostered positive dialogue exchange. OK, so that’s a lesson for all marketers — however, you’re right that this outrage is being over-played (which in itself demonstrates the power of social media).

For those asking where the “Motrin Dad” comments are, let me offer a real-life testimony:

When our 9 year old was only 15 months, we took a trip to Australia & New Zealand and I carried him in a backpack device designed for kids to ride and see forward (metal frame, nylon material, etc.) Sure, it was cool to walk around Sydney, Auckland, Christchurch, etc. with a 15 month old on my back. However, even for a guy with over a dozen marathons to my credit, 4 hours of walking around with a 20 pound kid on my back jacked my spine and I downed a couple Advil at night to ease the pain (OK, so there may have been a pint of Fosters just one night). Anyway, these heroic mom’s who claim they’re not feeling the impact of hauling around a 15 pound kid/device all day could be sandbagging just a bit.

You’re totally on point. I think what makes this case so interesting is how quickly Motrin reacted by apologizing and pulling their video/print campaign. Surely this isn’t the first time that a company’s product publicity has been questioned, and I wonder what kind of precedent this sets.

Your recommendations for Motrin are good ones.

Thanks for taking the time to comment!

Wow, new moms, sanctimonious much?

The ad never suggests that wearing your baby is a bad idea. They’re attempting to resonate with new moms who are under a lot of peer pressure and societal scrutiny to be perfect. I don’t think this is lost even on the most vocal detractors, but we may have lost our tolerance for humor.

Motrin certainly should have been aware of the collective power of “Mommy Bloggers” and missed an opportunity before launching the campaign to engage with them to get their buy-in, adjust the campaign accordingly or drop it altogether. But really, one would think based on the swelling rage from this community that Motrin has suggested a generation of moms should all be hooked on valium.

This community has been made very self-aware of its influence over the past few years, fostered by communications professionals seeking to harness that influence. From my view, the reaction has been disproportionate to the crime and they seem to be flexing their muscle for the sake of flexing their muscle. Aren’t there bigger issues to tackle than a perceived mischaracterization of a weary new mom?

Motrin needs to do their part for sure, and establish an more open dialogue than they what they have to date. And if there is third party data to support the claims in the ad campaign, they should surface it – surely some Moms suffer SOME strain and pain. If there is no third party data, they should indeed offer a public mea culpa, a la David Neeleman of Jet Blue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r_PIg7EAUw

There is an opportunity for them to turn this around and establish some sort of “Council of Online Mommies” to serve as consultants.

Thanks for the clarification. I kept getting a network error, not a message indicating maintenance.

Anyway, I think the apology was sincere and it’s a good first step.

My hope is that people who were upset by the ad are pacified by Motrin’s efforts and that they will now help Motrin to better understand what’s important to this particular community so that it doesn’t happen again. We all make mistakes and that’s how we learn.

Moreover, we should all recognize that Motrin responded very quickly given the size of the company and encourage them to participate more fully moving forward.

What do YOU think?

The Motrin.com site didn’t crash… the folks at Johnson & Johnson pulled the content which offended their customers.

What was your take on the apology from the VP responsible for the Motrin brand?

John

Give it a day, I’m sure the Twitter dads will jump on board if they haven’t already. Maybe you should lead the charge!