When I was thinking of what to write about for this blog I decided to expand on what I had written for my Module Discussion which was The Mother 'Hood Official ad from Similac but also expand a tad on what other companies do and do not do for their ads.

Similac is one of the many company that makes baby formula. Others are Enfamil, Nature’s One, Earth’s Best and Parent’s Choice and many store brands.  None of them—even with all their colorful or beautiful ads with happy mothers and children affected me the way this Similac ad did. I was not the only one in thinking this ad was a hit.  According to the website Ad Week this company really scored a hit because the idea of the ad is for mothers to stop the finger-wagging to other mothers was just a really moving ad. http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/similac-has-big-hit-one-most-honest-ads-ever-about-parenting-162541

What do other ads do? Well “organic” brands like Earth’s Best and Nature’s One show lots of pictures of happy little lush farms or with happy babies and children.  This ad was pulled from Google. 

 Or in some cases they have lots of green colors and clean lines in all the ads. They give facts which makes them highly dependable but it doesn’t stir much emotion in those who aren’t concerned about having an organic formula.  Here is the website http://www.naturesone.com/organic-formula.html

for Nature’s One and then a picture pulled again from Google of their products.

Enfamil is probably the closest thing to Similac as far as being well known brand. Do they have hip ads like this? No. Unless you think a can with a rubber ducky is hip.  Most of their ads come in hospital bags when you give birth or when you look Enfamil online. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen an Enfamil ad and they basically gave the ad market away to Similac with this one ad by Similac.

 In the Similac ad several groups of different kinds of mothers (and stay-at-home dads) are at the park and all seem to clandestinely meetup. Of course the insults start flying about how they are raising their kids. It only stops when a carriage goes rolling down a hill and everyone puts their differences aside because “they are parents first”.

I feel the Pathos and Ethos section of the triangle are definitely represented--probably the most. Similac is supposed to be a trusted big company for formula and they are appealing to the emotions of mothers—many who feel that nothing they do is good enough for other mothers and women in general. I think its creative that they use this fictional story used to influence someone because obviously this would never happen in any park—openly anyway. But since people do this in their heads the story is credible.   It’s a little harder to tell with Logos section of the triangle other that subsequent comments from the company have been consistent in their message—and it has been consistent with their sales pitch that their brand is just as good as breastmilk.

From the Similac Site: “We believe it's time to embrace mothers who choose to embrace motherhood. Time to put down the fingers and the subtle suggestions. Because no two of us are the same, but we're all in this together. The sisterhood has only one rule. Nourish each other the same way we nourish our children. And, just like the sister who's got your back, we're there to help you get through the first few days and months of motherhood with confidence — and zero judgment. The way it should be.”

Given the way the ad is done I feel it it highly effective in the message they portray and is far better than pictures of the earth, happy kids and moms, and baby toys.