Breast advert 'unfit for the young'

Plans to encourage Australian women to breastfeed using a striking advert were nearly scuppered when it was given a PG rating.

Advertising bosses originally deemed it unfit for children as they claimed it showed "too much nudity". They said it could only be shown with parental guidance (PG).

This highlighted one of the major problems in promoting breastfeeding, that many women are too embarrassed to feed their babies in public.

The Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) was advised to make the advert more discreet if they wanted to get it passed for free air viewing.

But organiser Barb Glare, of the ABA, said they had stuck to their guns and eventually won. Discreet

"One staff member told me that to get a G rating the ad needed to be more 'discreet'.

"I pointed out to her that the aim of the ad was not 'breastfeeding is OK as long as we don't know you are doing it'.

"Breast feeding is not an adult theme, and it's ludicrous to think that children need to be protected from this image"

Anne Croker, of the ABA

"Breast feeding is not an adult theme, and it's ludicrous to think that children need to be protected from this image.

"One of the main reasons mothers give for choosing not to breastfeed is perceived negative attitudes in the community."

Breastfeed

She said that the reason for running "The Boss" advert had been to counter this, but that the original PG rating made it look as if breastfeeding was something that needed to be hidden away.

When the advert was first screened earlier this year in Melbourne it met with a mixed response.

Some women praised the advert, but others dubbed it "disgusting".

The advert shows Christina Galutera breastfeeding her son Boen.

He then looks at the camera and says "Get ahead in life. Suck up to the boss."

General viewing

Now the advert is to be shown across the whole of Australia.

Getting more women to breastfeed rather than give their babies formula, particularly in the early months, is a problem world-wide.

In the UK a recent study revealed that a fifth of mothers who start breastfeeding stop within the first two weeks.

So the National Child Birth Trust (NCT) launched a campaign showing mother and model 22-year-old Shanelle Claridge breastfeeding her daughter in a London cafe, in a bid to promote breastfeeding as the norm.