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06/12/2002 Entry: "Enfamil"
A year ago, we received a large box of free Enfamil formula in the mail. Eric, more "righteously indignant" than myself, called the 800 number on the box to let the company know that we were a breastfeeding family and, as such, not interested in any future mailings. He told them in no uncertain terms that such mailings were a violation of the World Health Organization's code against the marketing of infant formula and that we felt that our commitment to exclusive breastfeeding was undermined by them. Any further unsolicited mailings would be construed as harrassment, he told them.
(Have I mentioned recently how proud I am of my husband?)
Today I opened my mailbox and found a large gold box addressed to Sam and me. Enclosed was a large can of Enfamil. Also included was a booklet which gave extensive advice on how to wean my baby from breastmilk onto formula; there was even a chart detailing which feedings at the breast should be replaced and when.
Eric just got off the phone again. He's livid. The customer service rep actually said, "Yes, I see in your file that you requested no more mailings, about a year ago..." That just made him madder. I told him he should write a letter, but he wants some sort of immediate response.
Coincidentally, a local news station on TV just flashed a number to call for free legal advice for the next hour. Guess what Eric's doing right now?
Replies: 46 sandcastles
Ok, I don't know what hospital you guys delivered in, but at my hospital, all the nurses supported my decision to breastfeed. I was asked and as soon as they found out I was planning on breastfeeding, I had a lactation consultant in my room. She spent upwards of 45 minutes in my room going over the best way to latch on and staying to make sure he was.
At night, my nurse took him out to the nursery, but I specifically asked for him to be brought back in when he started to fuss so he could feed. Again, my wishes were listened to. Two hours later, he was rolled into my room to feed.
When we came back for our 2 day check up she came back in to the room just to check up on my technique again.
Maybe, I'm lucky as my pediatrician is a woman who breastfeed her 3 children so she in a fount of information for me.
Those coupons I get? I use them, now. I could not keep up my son's demand and he was supplemented with bottles until I returned to work full time. At that point I weaned him to formula.
Posted by Beverly @ 06/19/2002 01:07 PM EST
This is excerpted from the ProMom site:
Another related reason for low breastfeeding rates is the almost complete absence of breastfeeding curricula in medical schools. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that most doctors know little about breastfeeding. Freed GL et al. National assessment of physicians' breast-feeding knowledge, attitudes, training, and experience. JAMA 1995;273:472-476. The study looked at doctors' knowledge of the clinical aspects of breastfeeding. It revealed disturbingly high rates of ignorance about why breastfeeding is important and how to handle breastfeeding difficulties. The authors of this study surveyed more than 3,000 residents and nearly 2,000 physicians practicing obstetrics, pediatrics and family medicine and found that few of them knew the basics of breastfeeding such as how to teach a new mother how to use a breast pump or what to do about low milk supply. Many doctors who are not educated about breastfeeding advise supplementing with formula when any problem arises with breastfeeding. The result: the baby is quickly weaned from the breast to the bottle because the mother's milk supply diminishes immediately in response to her baby's diminishing demand for her milk.
Interestingly, the study found that most important factor influencing whether a physician was knowledgeable about breastfeeding was whether the doctor herself, or the doctor's wife, had breastfed children. This is apparently not news to the formula companies, who make sure that every physician who treats pregnant and post-partum women and is expecting a baby is offered a full years' supply of formula for free.
My own experience, and that of almost every breastfeeding mother I know, bears this out. The nurses in the hospital where I gave birth know nothing about bfing, gave crappy advice, and tried to convince me to give my daughter formula. The pediatrician at the hospital told me to limit her feeding time and supplement with formula when she was a day old. Luckily I knew this was the most commonly given, and most likely to lead to failure, piece of misinformation and did not follow it. My daughter's regular pediatrician also tried to get me to supplement. The only people who knew even the basics about breastfeeding were my midwives and two International Board Certified Lactation Consultants.
Posted by Rachel @ 06/17/2002 02:26 PM EST
Rachel is not out of control. Neither of the pediatricians we've had knew *anything* about breastfeeding. They knew about what you see on formula commercials "breast is best, but..." Neither of them were able to give me ANY support at all. None of the nurses in the hospital after my daughter was born were able to help, they gave me crappy information and fed my daughter formula after I asked them numerous times not to. My pediatrician looked at me like I had two heads when I told her I was still nursing my daughter when she was 7 months old! Breastfeeding is NOT a big subject in med school. I find it fascinating what Dianna wrote about Brazilian women. How IS it that they don't have problems like American women?
Posted by Aimee @ 06/17/2002 01:57 PM EST
Wow, Rachel, you're out of control. Pediatricians get their info regarding breastfeeding from...MED SCHOOL. Not the back of a can of formula.
Posted by Eeyore @ 06/17/2002 12:33 PM EST
In Brazil, where I live, the government have always done a big deal about breastfeading. First of all, there's this huge marketing pro breastfeading, saying that all childreen should be breastfed until the age of 2. Furthermore, formula infomercial, formula ads, or any other kind of marketing concerning formula is not allowed. Moreover, people only switch to formula if the pediatrician says it's for the best in the specific case, what doesn't happen very often. I actually don't know anyone who haven't breastfed. So, why so many American mothers fails in breastfeding, while hardly any Brazilian moms does? Pure marketing.
Posted by Diana Monnerat @ 06/17/2002 02:25 AM EST
It was *not* an accident or an act of benevolent altruism on the part of a formula company. Just like it wasn't an accident when I kept getting formula coupons and innaccurate breastfeeding info from a formula company, after calling three times and writing twice to ask them to remove my name from their mailing list. Nor is it a coincidence that mothers are continually given innacurate breastfeeding advice by pediatricians, advice which causes them to fail at breastfeeding and resort to formula-- pediatricians get their breastfeeding info from formula companies! The fact that my daughter's pediatrician (like so many pedes) handed me a free can of formula "just in case" after hearing me tell her that I was *not* ever planning to use formula was not an accident or a coincidence, and it was not unrelated to the head circumference measuring tape and the prescription pads in her office saying "compliments of Similac."
Those who think that this *well-known and repeatedly documented practice* (and yes, an insidious one at that) was simply an innocent accident that was misconstrued by Carrie and Eric might want to educate themselves about this issue by checking out the following websites:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/8148/nestle.html
http://www.promom.org
http://www.babymilkaction.org
Posted by Rachel @ 06/16/2002 05:45 PM EST
"Our wishes were expressly denied."
Couldn't it possibly, just possibly be, that it was a total mistake? Something was overlooked, another department was dealing with it, or they tried to remove you from the list but it didn't succeed? I deal with databases. I had someone today email me asking why I haven't removed her from the mailing list, although she's asked three times before. I HAD removed her from the list, the only way possible. It didn't "take." We don't follow up to see if the name was actually removed--it should be removed with no problem. Mistakes happen. How could you possibly know this was blatant denial of your wishes? Couldn't it have been a !@#$% "oops"?
Posted by Eeyore @ 06/14/2002 04:45 PM EST
Good for you guys to tell them you're unhappy. yes, we all receive junk mail we don't want, but if some of us stood up to it and told these companies to stop, they would! When I get cold-callers I always ask to be taken off their calling list. It's the exact same principle.
And I don't understand people telling you how to react to something, Carrie. You've dealt with the response much better than I would have! =)
Posted by ivete @ 06/14/2002 04:23 PM EST
Wow, this has been an interesting discussion and debate. I don't know about you guys, but I've really enjoyed listening to everybody's points of view and sharing my own. I hope nobody got their feelings hurt or felt attacked by anything I or others might have said; the beauty of the world lies in the fact that we can all disagree, even strongly, without necessarily fighting or getting angry.
I'd love to continue it, but, as I'm about to put in another post, we're going to be hitting the road in a few minutes. Everybody play nicely while I'm gone!
Posted by Carrie @ 06/14/2002 02:56 PM EST
I'm not sure that I agree with you that the "practice is insidious." I mean, are we to take no responsibility for ourselves? If you don't want to feed your child formula, then DON'T DO IT! Also - it's not like they kept sending you the free samples month after month after month, after Eric requested to be taken off the list. They waited a year, until the milestone of when "most women" wean their children came up. Then they thought it'd be a good time to see if you were interested. So what?
I breastfed my son for 8 months until he weaned himself. I welcomed the samples and coupons "just in case." Believe me, in the beginning breastfeeding was no easy feat. It SUCKED for the first month and I hated it so. much. But it was important to me to keep going and I hoped it would get better (it did - and then some), so I kept at it - despite formula being in the house. We ended up giving all the free samples to the Good Will. I guess what I'm saying is - what's wrong with taking a little responsibility for yourself and maintaining your parenting standards, despite the marketing ploys of businesses (who are just doing their own smart job, as well)?
Posted by M. @ 06/14/2002 02:11 PM EST
Perhaps I overstated the case about how Eric reacted a year ago. When I said that he was more indignant than I was, I meant that whereas I would perhaps have been content to simply get rid of the can, he felt more moved to try to stop any further shipments. Maybe I should have called him "proactive" instead. In any event, he was polite and courteous.
I'm also unable to understand how my occasional use of disposable diapers can in any way be seen as detachment-promoting. I never claimed to use cloth exclusively. How is this even relevant?
Posted by Carrie @ 06/14/2002 09:28 AM EST
OK, I agree with Eric getting mad THIS time around after you asked to be removed from their list. However, it seemed he was unduly pi$$ed that you rec'd them a year ago. He, in you own words was "righteously indignant" and that "Any further unsolicited mailings would be construed as harrassment, he told them." Give me a break! If you are determined to breastfeed, I highly doubt that a free sample would "undermine your commitment to exclusive breastfeeding". PLEASE!
I was unfortunate in that I was unable to breastfeed and I was pleased as punch to receive as many free samples and coupons as I did from the various formula companies.
Funny how although you also proclaim to use cloth diapers we find Sam in disposables every now and then. Doesn't that undermine your AP household. Feh....
Posted by Cheryl @ 06/14/2002 09:21 AM EST
Perhaps I'm beating a dead horse here. Carrie, when I read your post yesterday, I was somewhat upset, thinking "So the company sent them a can of formula, big deal. Get over it." But then I received a 'package' myself. I quit smoking about 2 months ago. I had written to the company that manufactures the cigarettes I smoked, telling them to stop sending me their junk. What do I get in the mail? An ashtray & coupons! I was livid! So I understand your point now. Even though I didn't post any comments, I felt bad for thinking the way I did. I wanted to let you know...
Thanks!
Posted by Joshua @ 06/14/2002 08:54 AM EST
ahh, ok. I think your tins must be much smaller than ours then :) Our tin is 900 grams which is apparently just under 30oz :)
Posted by Jade @ 06/14/2002 07:48 AM EST
I'm not going to comment on the bad business practices, not the pros and cons of the breast over formula, but one teensy little thing, Carrie.. if you're going to donate the tin to an animal shelter, could you maybe consider the salvation army, or someone who could put it to good use for a human child? Not that I have anything against animal babies... but I just think that's maybe a better way to help someone.
Posted by melanie @ 06/14/2002 02:41 AM EST
Jade - I just checked the tin - 12.9oz of powder, or enough to make 94 fl oz of formula!
Posted by Eric @ 06/14/2002 01:24 AM EST
Well, as a formula feeding mother, I can answer the question about going straight onto whole milk about one year of age... you can do that, but it depends on what else the kid is eating. If the child still has primarily a liquid diet, then plain cows milk does not contain enough nutrients for the child. If the child is eating a mix of solid(-ish) foods and just the occasional bottle of milk, then cows milk is fine as the nutritional needs are being met by the other foods. But by itself, cows milk isn't enough. That's why you might continue to use formula even past the first birthday if you child was weaned from the breast at that stage.
And I just have to add.. they send you WHOLE FULL SIZE tins of the stuff? When you said a sample.. I thought you meant a ..you know, sample sized one :) Crikey. I've never even seen tiny samples for formula here, let alone whole tins of the stuff!
Posted by Jade @ 06/13/2002 11:22 PM EST
Ami, Enfamil-and Carnation and Similac, too, Enfamil's not the only one-has a longstanding practice of marketing formula much more heavily to breastfeeding mothers. They keep two separate mailing lists-women they've been told will use formula and women who are considering bfing. Formula feeders get occasional coupons. Bfers get samples upon samples. Carnation even publishes a free magazine with articles about the trials and tribulations breastfeeding is (breast is best...*if* your milk comes in, *if* your baby latches on correctly, etc) that make it sound like the most intimidating thing in the world FOLLOWED by articles about how wonderful their formula is. Are those business practices legal? Yes. Perfectly. But that doesn't make them ethical.
FYI, I'm bfing for the second time now, a 2 1/2 month old little boy, and my sister in law is formula feeding her 2 month old daughter. We've been comparing notes on the mailings we get, and sure enough, she's getting almost no marketing and zero samples from the formula companies wheras I've got them out the whazoo. Oh, and she signed up for them but I didn't.
And it does seem as though it's harder to get off of the Enfamil mailing list than it is with any other company-selling ANY product-that I've dealt with. A friend of mine recieved a big sample package of Enfamil around the time her baby was due. Her baby that she miscarried, that is. Seeing a giant box of formula (from a company she'd never communicated with) brought back all the raw pain from the miscarriage, and she called Enfamil to ask to be taken off their list. She told them point blank that she had miscarried, that there was no baby in her household to feed, but she still got mailings from them. It took 4 or 5 calls to get off their list. Is it really that hard to delete an entry from a database?
Those of you who are getting into this debate may be interested in this forum:
www.babycenter.com/bbs/1194
I've posted there in the past. It's the Babycenter "Great Debate" board that focuses on formula vs. bfing and this is a topic that comes up a lot.
Posted by nina @ 06/13/2002 11:17 PM EST
It was you, wasn't it, Bekki? You gave them her address, right? I always knew there was something fishy about you *wink*
Posted by Aimee @ 06/13/2002 11:08 PM EST
Carrie I have been wondering that SAME thing. I always assumed formula fed babies went straight to whole milk at a year. Hmm, guess I was wrong. Seems to me that a lot of people would just because a gallon of milk is a heck of a lot cheaper than formula.
Another thing I think is amazing is how they found you in the first place. It isn't like you went to a hospital and filled in all their paperwork to have him. Sneaky little people they are.
Posted by Bekki @ 06/13/2002 10:40 PM EST
I think I've made our points and our reasoning pretty clear, so I'll forbear to repeat them. I will say, though, that there's a lot more hoopla going on here than in my home. ;-)
Oh, and (though I hate to ask another question and open another can of worms) how many women wean from the breast at a year to go to formula? Most of the ones I know just go to whole milk.
Posted by Carrie @ 06/13/2002 09:44 PM EST
Sounds to me like a lot of hooapla about nothing. I agree with Matthew in that if you didnt want it, just throw it away. I get junk mail all the time - and it is a fact of life. No matter how many companies you ask to take you off their list, there will still be more who have you listed. Enfamil is a big company and they have computers who do their mass mailings. I very seriously doubt some person in an Enfamil warehouse said to his colleage "Hey this chick named Carrie is breastfeeding. Lets send her our formula and try to foil her perfect mothering plans mawahahaha". Yeah they were trying to get you to use their formula but I dont necessarily believe they were trying to get you to stop breastfeeding. They just wanted you to have their product in mind if you were going to stop breastfeeding when Sam turned a year old - yanno, lots of mothers do. Also, lots of mothers want to stop breastfeeding and some have a terrible time trying to wean their babies. They may have found those tips that you sarcasitcally refer to has quote helpful end quote. I am willing to bet that there are more mothers who would have actually found them helpful than mothers who would jump on the phone to an attorney and act like her entire mothering principles were being challenged. I never breastfed, had no desire to and my babies ate formula. They loved it, I loved it and they are completely well adjusted, healthy as horses and my bond with them couldnt be any stronger, lack of breastfeeding not withstanding. I got free cans of a variety of formulas, including the one I was using. Its a random thing and taking it personally seems over the line.
Posted by Ami @ 06/13/2002 09:21 PM EST
I agree with you, Carrie and Eric. Especially in light of the WHO guidelines.
Where I live, Enfamil costs $12-$24 a can, depending on the type. I've received six full sized cans in the mail that I didn't ask for and will never use.
If I -had- to buy formula for my baby, I'd be really annoyed that they were giving it away to families who didn't even want it, and making me pay a fortune to subsidise the freebies. Enfamil is made by a pharmaceutical company... not a benevolent charity.
Posted by Kate @ 06/13/2002 09:09 PM EST
Hey, Jade. :-) To answer your questions, if the sample had come from a company who we had not asked to not send anything, then we would of course have simply made the request. After all, they can't know that we don't necessarily want the formula. As to the diaper, we wouldn't have been offended. If someone uses disposables, it doesn't eliminate the ability to also use cloth if they change their minds months down the road. As far as whether or not a woman who uses the sample might have switched anyway, she might well have. Or she might not. All I can say is that if she would need to actually go to the store and buy formula, she might decide to just give nursing another night or two, whereas if the formula was sitting on her kitchen counter, right downstairs...it's a slippery slope. I personally haven't seen that many women at all are pressured into nursing for longer than they wish; I can't find the stats right now, but I recall that most breastfed American babies are weaned to bottles before six months. It's a shame that anyone is made to feel like a failure, whether they nurse or not. So many other factors come into play with parenting that it's completely irrational to place so much importance on one factor and ignore the rest.
Eeyone - nobody was trying to sue; we just wanted to know what else we could do to prevent Enfamil from ignoring our wishes. Of course, it was no huge inconvenience for us personally to receive formula at this point in time. The principle of the matter remains: the practice is insidious. Our wishes were expressly denied. Neither their sample nor their "helpful hints" were needed or wanted, and they knew it.
Posted by Carrie @ 06/13/2002 09:02 PM EST
Hi, Carrie. Much luck with the Enfamil thing! I used to sign up for freebies when I lived at home with my mother. Somehow Enfamil must have gotten my address, and sent me a nice big thing of formula. Im on 23, have no kids, and expressed NO interest in having these samples...I called them, as well, telling them that I had no use for the samples, yet I still get them from time to time.
Let me know if you can get them to stop, Ive since then moved, and it makes my mother crazy to still get all this stuff from them!
ps. My mom hounded me for weeks after I got the first sample, of course she opened it when she saw it was from a company that makes formula! She was sure that I was pregnant...=]
Posted by Mary @ 06/13/2002 08:09 PM EST
You know, every baby is weaned. Someday. I don't know any 45-year-olds still on the breast (at least for milk purposes). And although surely, Enfamil had their own best interests in mind (i.e., gaining you as a customer), all the did was give you free samples which most people would be delighted to receive, and they gave you helpful advice on how to wean your baby (and I repeat, every baby is weaned, just not always from breastmilk to formula, if the breastfeeding goes on several years and they skip the formula stage). They were being generous and helpful, offering their stuff and their advice. And who cares if (1) you don't want their stuff or their advice, and (2) they of course have their own best interest in mind? Someone somewhere got free formula, if you're taking it to a shelter. I'm sure they're happy. Enfamil is not terrible people. Dude. They're just giving free goods. So sue 'em. Oh, wait, you tried.
Posted by Eeyore @ 06/13/2002 07:55 PM EST
Well there has been a lot said on this one already and I don't want to fuel the fire, but I did want to put in my two cents, and I had a question or two for Carrie and Eric.. if it'd been a different brand of formula, for which you hadn't before recieved a sample, would you have just been happy to call up and say, 'thanks but no thanks and don't bother again'? And what if the sample you recieved had been instead for some sort of disposable nappy (er.. diaper), how would you have reacted to that (because I understand you feel quite strongly about cloth?)? Those were just a couple of things I was idly wondering.
Having been one of those who relied on and am very grateful for the existence of formula to quieten my baby's cries of hunger after several days of unsuccessful breastfeeding attempts, I guess I'm not really in a position to comment knowledgeably about weaning, but isn't it possible that if a woman who has exclusively breastfed to a certain point and then recieves a sample of formula and really considers weaning, somewhere in her own mind, she must have already considered it and already be feeling ready to take that step? Is it perhaps that in our society today with so much pressure on to breastfeed and to succeed at doing it, that some women are feeling pressured into doing so for longer than they feel comfortable for the exact same reasons that those of us who were unsucessful in the beginning were made to feel like failures and bad mothers? (Not necessarily by anyone who's commented here, just in general.) I'm kind of placing this query forward as a devil's advocate, because I do agree pretty much with what you've all said about getting the sample even after you asked not to get it being a bad business practise as well as just plain disrespectful, but having now written it, I wonder if there are women that do feel that way..
Posted by Jade @ 06/13/2002 06:58 PM EST
I don't want to take over your space Carrie, but an easy answer for Matthew:
Studies show that when a mother who is having problems with or second thoughts about nursing has formula in the house to fall back on, it becomes much easier for her to force-wean and make the switch. It is also well known that nursing a child as s/he grows older and becomes more active and independent poses difficulties not found in nursing a younger infant.
So baby's first birthday is a prime time for questions about continuing to nurse to pop up, because of those older nursling issues and because there isn't a lot of societal support for "extended" nursing - it's still very much an anamoly. There are plenty of people, medical professionals included, who have no problem telling a mom "Oh, you've nursed for a year, that's enough, you can switch to a bottle now if you want."
So this company, knowing that the baby is hitting that birthday, knowing that they're hitting in a prime "questioning" time, sends out a "free" sample and includes literature directing the mother on how she can "easily" switch her baby from her milk to their their pale imitation, and for an undersupported mama, that can be enough for her to decide that nursing is no longer worth the effort. They stategically pick their time, force market to a family that's already expressed no interest, and include their oh-so-rosy literature, and it's not to give mama an option to think about, it's to get mama to stop nursing, period.
Nursing mamas are a threat to formula makers. Every one of us is money out of their coffers. If they can't get us from the beginning, they surely consider it a victory when they can get us later.
Posted by Dreama @ 06/13/2002 04:37 PM EST
Well, I didn't say that it worked, Matthew. ;-) But we have no breastfeeding issues or problems. I've heard many, many women who have had problems who have said that in the darkest periods, if formula had been in the house, they would have used it. With that first can, I didn't want to take any chances. Sam hadn't yet been born, and I didn't know whether we would have an easy or difficult time learning to nurse, so I had Eric take it out of the house and out of my sight.
Formula marketing tactics work. They may not be all that ethical, but they work. Until we give them a good reason to stop, they have no incentive to do so. We gave them that good reason, in our case; they just refused to listen.
Posted by Carrie @ 06/13/2002 04:26 PM EST
If a CSR doesn't want to receive occasional anger, they shouldn't work for a company with crap business practices. That's just asking for it, IMO.
Congrats to you, Eric, for taking a stand. This company willfully made a decision to try to undermine an aspect the most important relationship a baby can have and they deserve to be blasted for it as hard as possible. Go for it!
Posted by Dreama @ 06/13/2002 04:18 PM EST
I suppose everyone is different. Personally, I can't see getting "righteously indignant" over such a thing, but that may be a matter of semantics. The basic fact of life in this country is that companies have the right to do what they did in this case. Now, you also have the right to do what you did. I have the utmost respect for privacy rights, and also believe that they should remove you from their mailing lists at your request. However, many people wouldn't mind receiving a free product sample in the mail, generally speaking. How does receiving a product by post "undermine" your efforts to breast feed your baby? You both sound more determined than ever to do just that, to me. :-)
Posted by matthew @ 06/13/2002 04:13 PM EST
i personally am glad you stuck up for yourselves. and isn't customer service the appropriate place to complain anyway? i thought that's what they were there for. there is absolutely nothing wrong with complaining. many businesses change their practices based on many people doing so. it doesn't sound to me as though you were out of line. good for you!
Posted by krista @ 06/13/2002 01:05 PM EST
I'm not in any way opposed to infant formula. The companies do provide a useful product to those who need/want it.
We don't. They know that. I have no problem with the company's product. I have no problem with formula feeding.
I have a problem with bad business practices.
Posted by Eric @ 06/13/2002 12:07 PM EST
Enfamil saved my baby's life. I just thought I would share that.
Posted by Hilary @ 06/13/2002 11:55 AM EST
Oh, I know. I didn't chew on the customer service person, just let them know I wasn't happy. As for the destination of the angry letter, that would be Paul Dolan, Chairman/CEO of Bristol-Myers-Squibb (Mead Johnson's parent comapny), cc'd to the CEO of Mead Johnson.
Posted by Eric @ 06/13/2002 10:59 AM EST
I don't see the point in chewing out a customer service representative who probably makes six dollars an hour, did not personally send the formula in the first place, and has zero control over mass mailings anyway.
You will be doing much more for your cause to call customer service and ask who is an appropriate person to receive your complaint. In writing.
You'll do even more by cc'ing various appropriate parties to insure that this person is held accountable for responding to your complaint.
Planetfeedback.com is a good online resource for this sort of thing.
Posted by Erin @ 06/13/2002 10:26 AM EST
Matthew - I'm upset because the company was informed a year ago that we have no use for their product. The 'helpful brochure' included with the sample included pages of tips on weaning, supplementing breastfeeding with formula, etc. This was sent to us, very much on purpose, in defiance of our wishes, which were known to Mead-Johnson. The entire purpose of the mailing was to 'help' an exclusively breast-fed baby convert to (partially) formula-based diet. I'm certain that, had we been in the database as a formula-using 'consumer', we would not have received the mailing.
Posted by Eric @ 06/13/2002 08:34 AM EST
Oh, don't worry; this can's going to a local animal shelter. They use infant formula to feed abandoned baby animals, or so I'm told. :-)
Matthew, I understand that not everyone will approach this sort of thing in the manner that we chose. Some people get upset about other things that just roll off our backs. Everybody has their hot buttons, and this happens to be one of ours. Not bottle-feeding, mind you - shady business practices. I'd get just as upset if a particular phone company repeatedly called me even after I'd asked to be removed from their list.
Posted by Carrie @ 06/13/2002 08:11 AM EST
i know this may sound flippant and ignorant to you, but doesn't your husband have anything better to do with his time? how thoroughly pompous does one have to be to become "righteously indignant" over receiving some baby formula in the mail? just throw it in the garbage if you don't want it and move on. junk mail is a fact of life, and can HARDLY be construed as "harrassment" by a reasonable person. as your free counsel advised. this isn't singapore, you know. wow.
Posted by matthew @ 06/13/2002 03:35 AM EST
i was glad to have some formula samples as my milk never fully came in, and even all the might of lll could not help me make enough milk for my daughter. but, they sent more samples and coupons for free formula than we could ever use, so i collected as much as i could, used every one of the high dollars off coupons [buying canisters and cans of formula for pennies], and made a lovely donation to the local food bank.
if you can't make them do right, you can at least make them indirectly altruistic.
Posted by k. @ 06/13/2002 01:17 AM EST
I'm the same situation as Lisette. I wanted SO much to breastfeed, and tried, and like myself, my daughter is allergic to her mother's milk.
:(
Kudos to Eric, and yourself, for standing up for your beliefs, though. I'd be just as mad if I'd asked to NOT be sent certain things, and were sent them anyway.
Posted by April @ 06/12/2002 10:45 PM EST
Way to go Eric! Carrie you are so lucky. I m sorry that there was nothing you could do.
Posted by Karen @ 06/12/2002 10:27 PM EST
I understand, Lisette, and I have absolutely nothing against mothers who formula-feed or the babies who drink formula. What grates on me are the companies who market formula to people who specifically request that they not do so. :-( Even sadder, I've learned from various friends of mine who have breastfed, formula fed, or a combination of both, that formula companies will often not send samples to women who say that they are planning to use formula. After all, they have already decided to use their product. Bah, marketing.
Posted by Carrie @ 06/12/2002 09:36 PM EST
Carrie, that's freakin hilarious. Way to go, Eric. They tried to send formula samples home with me from the hospital but I guess you didn't have that problem *wink*
I did get some samples in the mail later. I opened it because I was curious. We gave the bottles to Rebecca and she thinks they're fun to play with. Ed and I tasted the formula (it was premixed, in a can). Well, we're glad *we* don't have to drink it.
Posted by Aimee @ 06/12/2002 09:32 PM EST
I am so happy that you can breastfeed your child. Please keep in mind that some of us can not. My baby depends on formula for his survival. If you don't want the samples, refuse them. Write return to sender on the mailing label and toss them into a mailbox or leave for your postman.
Posted by Lisette @ 06/12/2002 09:26 PM EST
The lawyer told him that, unsurprisingly, there was nothing we could legally do. Now he's going to write that letter. ;-)
Posted by Carrie @ 06/12/2002 07:15 PM EST
