Moms Pump Here’s advertising campaign for National Breastfeeding Month on Facebook this week has been rejected by Facebook’s Ads Team because, according to a Facebook representative (only known as “Kyle”), the image used in the ads does not follow their policy for advertising.
Considering the image proposed for National Breastfeeding Month is the same exact image as the image Moms Pump Here used just last week for our advertising campaign for World Breastfeeding Week on Facebook, we are confused. Whyshouldn’t breastfeeding images be allowed on a breastfeeding Facebook page?
When we asked this question, Kyle from Facebook replied that our ad was rejected because the image doesn’t follow ad policies, which state “Ads may not use overly sexual images, suggest nudity, show a lot of skin or cleavage, or focus unnecessarily on specific body parts.”
Is breastfeeding overly sexual? No, breastfeeding is not overly sexual. In fact, breastfeeding is not even sexual, and certainly not overly sexual.
Does breastfeeding suggest nudity? No, breastfeeding is a woman feeding her child.
Does breastfeeding show a lot of skin or cleavage? No, breastfeeding is a woman feeding her child.
Does breastfeeding focus unnecessarily on specific body parts? No, breastfeeding does not focus unnecessarily on specific body parts. Breastfeeding focuses on the feeding of a child and the bond which forms between the mother and her baby.
We are familiar with breastfeeding mothers being discriminated against for breastfeeding. In 2012, a blogger known as “The Feminist Breeder” was blocked on Facebook when readers complained about a photo she had posted of her daughter breastfeeding. Twitter and Instagram made a change to their respective policies and began to allow breastfeeding photos earlier this year.
Please, Facebook Team, explain why you are now rejecting advertising from a company trying to raise awareness about breastfeeding, especially when the advertising was permitted last week? Wefind this to be incredibly ironic, given that we are currently in the middle of National Breastfeeding Month, which is a campaign specifically coordinated to raise awareness of issues, like this, which affect breastfeeding women in the United States and around the world. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s wife, Priscilla Chan, is pregnant with the couple’s first child and while we know not every mom will breastfeed, we would like to think this policy will be changed before she makes her decision about breastfeeding.
The Facebook Team has led the social media movement with its insights, innovation, and inspiration. We are hopeful this is simply a mistake which will quickly be corrected. Please join our movement instead of standing in our way. Help us show the world that even Facebook can learn from breastfeeding moms. In the words of my 7-year-old, please explain why “Internet geniuses like Facebook teams do something like that to moms who breastfeed”?
