Ohio Billboard Promotes Breastfeeding, Offends Some
Driving around Downtown Cleveland and the greater Cleveland area, I have spotted a number of billboard advertisements promoting breastfeeding. Considering that only 58.5 percent of Ohio babies are ever breastfed, I thought the billboards were appropriate. Of the 50 states, we rank pretty far down on the bottom of the list. So, I can totally see why Ohio wants to promote breastfeeding. With so many Ohioans unemployed, and more women undoubtedly applying for WIC to help pay for their formula, the state could save a lot of money if women would instead utilize the milk their body provides. One of the billboards, however, has turned off quite a few Ohioans, who are offended at what appears to be breast milk dribbling out of the baby's mouth.
The billboard in question features a young child with a little bit of milk dripping out of its mouth and the slogan "Breast milk satisfies." The kid looks pretty satisifed so far as one can tell from a staged photo. There are no bare breasts in sight, so what's everyone finding so offensive about this ad? Apparently, it's the fact that the milk coming out of the baby's mouth is breast milk.
Never mind how cute or attractive people find the "Got Milk" campaigns and the trademark milk mustaches. A baby with breast milk on its chin is disgusting, you know, because it came from a woman and not a cow.
Fox Toledo spoke with a woman who said she liked the idea of promoting breastfeeding, but found the ad distasteful:
"When I first saw it I thought, you know, I agree with breast milk, it's fine but then I saw it with the milk around its mouth and I though that was so unappealing. The baby's cute, but I did not like the milk coming out of his mouth" said Stephanie Swan.
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/13682