From last few weeks, we are shown an advertisement campaign on Fussy Moms by First Cry. The motive of the advertisement is to spread awareness about how mothers can be so fussy when it comes to their child and how that fussiness makes them fantastic. Through the advertisement, the brand First Cry is also promoting their several products. But the question is whether the content shown in the advertisement is really giving good messages to the parents and future parents?
The advertisement:
The above posted advertisements gives the examples of several mothers who call themselves fussy. But I found this so-called fussy behaviours as irritating bordering on psychotic behaviour. The advertisement starts with a mother scolding the poor watchman silently for ringing the bell which can wake up her child which was overreacting on her part. How is the watchman expected to know that her child is sleeping? Also what if he has something important to tell someone in the house then how can he tell without ringing the bell? The next two stories are the only ones I found acceptable and sensible. The next story shows a mother sternly signals her son to pick up the crumbled paper and put it in the dustbin not letting the maid to do it for him instead. This was a good message for the parents to teach their children to put the rubbish in the dustbin themselves instead of expecting others to do it for them. The next story shows a mother taking away her toddler from her mother-in-law's lap in the car and saying firmly that car seat will only be safer for the baby. Some had problems with this saying the woman was rude to the older woman and how this story is being promoted to break families but some agreed with this story saying car seat is really safe since babies tend to move a lot in the lap and also there were several accidents happened with the babies who were not in car seat. I too agree with this story since car seat is actually safer for babies and as for the woman's speaking tone to her mother-in-law it was necessary as many in-laws impose their ideas just because they are elders without understanding that many changes in the next generation to them is for the better. In this story, the woman was only making her point logically and it was the older woman who was being egoistic and disrespectful to her after she puts her toddler in the car seat. There were more ridiculous stories where a mother was shown putting too much padding guard and helmet on her kid before using his tricycle while another story shows a mother checking temperature as ran hot water for her kid in the bathtub being satisfied when its 37 degree C only while her father logically asked how will it make a difference if there is difference by a degree? If the kid is always protect in such extreme ways while cycling he won't be ever able to learn properly while the kid who is always bathed in 37 degree C water won't have enough immunity to defend even smallest of illness which will only make the kid weaker. Then a story shows a pregnant woman checking different brands to-be-mother health powders too much for some reason while her husband asks if she has to give exam that she is reading too much to which she replied preservatives while another story shows a mother making juice for her kid in a portable mixer while they were sitting in the restaurant even when some other customers called it public nuisance. Being too concerned about preservatives may make sense since some preservatives can be harmful but using a mixture in the restaurant creates noise pollution and disturbs other customers. Then there is one mother shown using mosquito racket to kill any mosquito charging towards her little daughter who is playing on a swing in the park. I found this story as the most ridiculous like which mother goes in the park with a mosquito racket and acts like this? Did she not hear about mosquito repellent creams or mosquito repellent patches? Then we are shown a mother cutting out tags from all T-shirts of her kid to avoid her kid feeling itchy on backside of her/his neck while another mother is shown putting some pipe like padding on a coffee table to avoid her kid getting hurt by pointed edges. With such over protection will the kids ever learn to be strong to be immune to any discomfort or learn to be alert while walking around pointed furnitures? We are shown several people witnessing the acts of these mothers calling them names like stubborn, rude, fussy and then we hear voiceover saying that we agree that we mothers are fussy but its that their fussiness that what makes their childrens' childhood as fantastic. Then the voiceover continues that if they want to do something amazing, perfect, fantastic in their lives then they should be like a fussy mom. While the voiceover goes on they show a message 'Fussy Is Fantastic' on the screen. At the end of the advertisement, they show another mother who was carrying her baby in baby carrier bag shouting at her husband who was clicking pictures that she has told him many times that flashes are not good for her eyes. This may be a justified concern but few pictures with proper precautions wont do any harm.
What are they trying to teach parents and future parents with this advertisement? That its okay to make their feel suffocated and make them weaker with your over protectiveness by ridiculous acts? If the real life parents start acting like these so-called fussy moms to their kids then those kids won't be able to even face the smallest problems or stand against even a little sickness. Those kids will have a hard time getting strong while growing up. How will the mothers in this ad react when their kids on growing a little will want to have spicy or fast food? Or what will these mothers do when their kids after a couple years have to take part in fancy dress competitions in school dressing which won't be feeling comfortable like their daily clothes? Or how will they react if their kids frequently becomes sick after being exposed to even 5 minutes of heat or cold or having a little cold drink or ice-cream? Any wise parent especially a mother won't agree with most of the things shown in the advertisement. One more problem is that in a couple of advertisements the father of the kids are shown as clueless or irresponsible for questioning the mothers for their so-called fussy acts. Also here why only one set of parent that is mothers are focussed and glorified? What about the fathers roles in their kids lives? I wonder what the team were thinking before such a ridiculous and weird advertisement focussing on the relationships of the mothers and their kids. This advertisement is more problematic than informative.