• by Lauren Shopp , April 2, 2008

Remember all those massages you got from mom as a baby? Well, if you're like me, probably not. The only tactile bond my mom made with me was a hug or a good slap on the behind when I hid my brother's underwear. Lucky for thousands of new babies, Johnson's has started a new advertising campaign to wise new moms up to the alleged healing powers of bonding through touch. On the microsite touchingbond.com, the company shows how its famous baby lotion can be used in a series of how-to videos directed toward new or expectant mothers. Broken down into 10 video snippets with titles like "Adjusting to life on a new planet warrants a massage" (what about aliens?), a combination of animated and real-life actors show new parents how to do everything from give their baby Johnson's lotion-fueled massages to staring adoringly into their miniature person's tiny eyes.

Still not feeling maternal enough to give your baby girl a shiatsu treatment? Johnson's anticipated this, so for less touchy-feely moms, the company has placed content from pediatricians and other baby experts on the site, explaining how rubbing your baby's feet will make her hate you less once she hits 13. The content will appear in print and television ads, as well, in both Spanish and English. On the print side, Johnson's ads will run in Parents, with Spanish content appearing on the television channel Univision. Online advertising will, of course, hit J&J's own mommy hotspots babycenter.com and baby.com, as well as Meredith and Discovery Web sites.

But the real cherry on top of the campaign is the addition of animated shorts about baby massage, "Little Bundles of Bonding Fun," in which the baby is voiced Look Who's Talking-style by Mariska Hargitay. Of course, Mariska's super-creepy baby voice will make you wish she'd stick to the special victims unit, strap the badge back on and shoot down some hardened criminals.