• Forbes, Industry Standard , Monday, November 17, 2008 10:45 AM

An ad for Motrin that suggests that while babies carried in baby carriers may cry less, as research shows, moms may cry more due to the strain on their backs, necks and shoulders. "What about me?" a voiceover asks indulgently. Motrin to the rescue.

"Some members of the target audience were offended, and a flood of scathing items appeared on Twitter," Forbes reports. Kathy Widmer, VP, marketing at the McNeil unit of Johnson & Johnson, eventually apologized in a statement forwarded by a spokesman from the company to the magazine, saying that that "we take your feedback seriously and will take swift action with regard to this ad." But the reaction was late in coming, many observers felt.

"Dave Knox, brand manager at Proctor & Gamble, notes that Motrin has failed in two respects. The uproar that the ad has caused (with many calling for a boycott) is one problem, but the second problem is the company's lack of attention to social media," writes Cyndy Aleo-Carreira in The Industry Standard.

How out of touch was Johnson & Johnson? Well, it depends on your perspective. The ad begins, "Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion ..." Let me tell you, it was "in fashion" 24 years ago, too, when we had our first, although we thought of it in a very different light -- as do today's moms. For a sample of the reaction, check out this YouTube video (Fair warning: you also will hear a rendition of "Danny Boy") or the ongoing comments on Twitter. 

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