Frida Mom Postpartum Ad Banned by ABC For the Oscars
Frida Mom on the Oscars Rejecting Its Ad: “And We Wonder Why New Moms Feel Unprepared”
Coinciding with its launch of a postpartum care line containing individual postbirth products and kits, Frida Mom debuted an ad featuring a brand-new mom struggling to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. It's not an ad full of beautiful slow-motion smiles between mom and baby, and her little one isn't swaddled and sleeping blissfully — no, her baby is wailing, as babies do, and she's doing her best to hurry up in the bathroom, but using the toilet after giving birth is a literal hellstorm.
Frida Mom has never shied away from that fact, or that moms need more information and support, so they can be more prepared for what's to come and how they'll have to recover after having a baby. But the same can't be said for many other brands and companies that continue to view postpartum care as a taboo subject, breastfeeding in public as an act of nudity, and women's struggles after giving birth as issues that are better left behind closed doors.
Frida Mom is doing its darndest to try to help new moms, but there's only so much that can be done, especially when a major network like ABC refuses to air its eye-opening and relatable ad during a heavily viewed award show like the Oscars.
"It's not violent, political or sexual in nature — but it was deemed 'too graphic with partial nudity and product demonstration,' and that's not even the most outrageous part," reads an email sent by Frida Mom's PR. "The [Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences] guidelines say that the 'Advertisement of the following is not permitted: Political candidates/positions, religious or faith-based message/position, guns, gun shows, ammunition, feminine hygiene products, adult nappies, condoms or hemorrhoid remedies' during the broadcast. Yes, Frida Mom has been put into the same category as guns and ammunition."
And this isn't the first time that Frida has had to jump through hoops to advertise to their target audiences. In 2018, the brand's billboards to promote its MomWasher peri bottle were banned in every state but New York because they used the word "vagina" to describe . . . the vagina.
"And we wonder why new moms feel unprepared," a line in the above ad reads.
If you've followed Frida as a company at all, you know that this isn't going to stop them from trying to raise awareness about postpartum recovery, but the amount of defeat and resistance the company's faced is disheartening. Help them out by spreading the word and sharing the above video — because postpartum life shouldn't be lived in the shadows, and we all need to band together to ensure future new moms feel as ready as possible for what's to come after birth: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
