Why the Motrin ad is a brilliant advertising strategy

This weekend, while I was singing and dancing, smelling smoke, watching the Redskins lose, and doing other stuff, the tubes erupted into a ton of dialogue about the Motrin ad (since removed from Motrin's website).



Mark Trapp has provided a transcript of the ad:

Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion. I mean, in theory it's a great idea: there's the front baby carrier, the sling, the shwing, the wrap, the pouch, and who knows what else they've come up with? Wear the baby on your side, your front, go hands free! Supposedly, it's a real bonding experience: they say that babies carried close to the bod tend to cry less than others, but what about me? Do moms that carry their babies cry more than those that don't? I sure do: these things put a ton of strain on your back, your neck, your shoulders... did I mention your back? I mean, I'll put up with the pain because it's a good kind of pain: it's for my kid, plus it totally makes me look like an official mom. And so, if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why. Motrin. We feel your pain.

Some babywearing moms believed that the ad was ridiculing them, and next thing you know, the hashtag #motrinmoms is the hottest hashtag on Twitter. Oh, and the motrin.com site is down as I write this. And dads are getting into the act - for example, both Louis Gray and Duncan Riley have written about the ad, and reaction to it.

Based upon the reaction, perhaps this is a brilliant strategy on Motrin's part to capture the audience who is NOT moms - namely, single men, single women, gay couples who haven't adopted, childless heterosexuals. If so, Motrin has succeeded beyond its wildest expectations.

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