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Nestlé's
verybestbaby.com site
The
only one . . .
In
January 2001, when the WHO Executive Board specifically
warned about the use of Internet advertising for
products under the scope of the International Code,
the USA government was the only one to object and
even wanted all references to "electronic"
media deleted.
However,
the World Health Assembly adopted Resolution WHA
54.2 addressing such promotion in May 2001 by
consensus.
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Adiri
'Breastbottle' nurser.
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LINKS
TO DOCTORS AND NURSES
Another promotional
method is not only to use the company's own website but
also to advertise products or services on other websites
aimed at mothers or mothers-to-be. Baby food companies
provide a large proportion of advertising on such sites.
For example, freegifts4kids.com is sponsored by
Gerber, Nestlé Carnation and Mead Johnson's Enfamil
and contains links to their websites. Such sites contain
(sometimes inaccurate or misleading) infant feeding recommendations,
surveys and offers of products and club memberships. Kidsgrowth.com,
as another example, is sponsored by Similac (an Abbott-Ross
formula) and recommends complementary feeding well before
six months of age. Mothers in the USA and Canada receive
samples, discount coupons, newsletters and gifts through
such sites. Mead Johnson gets more than it pays for with
Enfamil's sponsorship of the sites WebMD and WebRN
as the contents of supposedly professional articles on
those sites are shockingly anti-breastfeeding. The extent
of this mutually beneficial relationship is evident in
that WebMD is advertised on the top of Enfamil
tins.
Abbott Laboratories
received a boost in the credibility of its products when
company researchers were quoted in an online article by
the US FDA titled "Infant Formula: Second Best But
Good Enough" The article serves industry's interests
in saying, "Infant formula is increasingly close
to breastmilk".
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