The VP of marketing at McNeil Consumer Healthcare, herself a mother of three, later issued a well written apology, stating, We had intended to demonstrate genuine sympathy and appreciation for all that parents do for their babies.
But flash mobs move fast on the Internet. In just twelve hours or so, angry mobs of moms tweeted and blogged and blamed and pointed fingers until #motrinmom became one of the top trending topics on Twitter. They were angry at the tone of the ad, which they found to be condescending, and they railed against the ad's assertion that somehow babywearing is a fashion statement. Also that moms feel tired and crazy.
And then the inevitable happened: Angry mobs went after the angry moms, telling them to find something more important to get behind, and far, far worse things that I won't repeat here. But if you've ever watched an online brawl breakout, you can fill in the blanks yourself, mainly with words that begin with F and end with hurt feelings and lots of flaming.
It's unfortunate for the folks at Motrin that the whole thing went down on a weekend, because, like most major corporations, no one was watching their site or what people were saying about their brand. But, like my babies (or so it felt), the Internet never sleeps.
The lesson here that communications majors will no doubt study for years to come is that social networking is a powerful force, especially when moms are using it. And while many non-moms complained online about it, when mom bloggers attack, it can be dangerous for whoever is at the other end of it.
So, Motrin: I feel your pain. As a former ad executive, I can imagine what it was like for the Motrin ad team to come to work yesterday morning. Your best bet now is to reach out to the very moms who brought you to the woodshed in the first place, and find out what it is they want to hear from you. Then come back with better ads that make moms-who-tweet happy. Because when mom bloggers attack, somebody always gets hurt.
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