Beech-Nut Fights "Mom-Shaming" with New "Turn the Labels Around" Campaign

AMSTERDAM, N.Y., April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Beech-Nut, the long-trusted baby food brand dedicated to transparency and clean labels, today announced its "Turn the Labels Around" campaign to combat mom-shaming, an issue facing more than 80% of millennial moms, according to a recent survey^*. The new campaign kicks off just in time for Mother's Day with a video calling on all moms to stop shaming and, instead, come together to support each other.

"We see moms under attack every day for how they feed their babies, how they hold their children, whether or not they work outside the home or even if they don't buy organic," says Beech-Nut Vice President of Marketing Andy Dahlen. "Instead of criticizing one another, we need to be supporting each other, which is why Beech-Nut wants to encourage all moms to 'Turn the Labels Around,' because the only label that matters is 'mom.'"

Labels are demoralizing. A recent survey in which Beech-Nut polled 1,000 U.S. millennial moms about mom-shaming brought the issue to light, finding that 68% of moms think the issue has gotten worse over the past five years. Worse yet, moms who have experienced shaming are more likely to shame another mom, which may indicate that mom-shaming is a cyclical trend. The issue is so prevalent that many labels meant to discredit certain parenting styles have become the norm: helicopter mom, tiger mom, organic mom, stage mom, the list goes on. Even stay-at-home dads are affected with labels like Mr. Mom.

In addition to the video, the "Turn the Labels Around" campaign aims to turn the tide through TV ads about the need to rethink all labels—from the ways people describe parenting styles to the ingredients in baby food as well as social-media posts meant to encourage moms to rethink mom-shaming labels and challenge moms to be more supportive of each other and of different parenting styles.

Additionally, Thursday, May 4, Beech-Nut will host an exclusive roundtable event in partnership with The Huffington Post. The roundtable, which will be livestreamed on the Huffington Post Parents' Facebook page, will feature HuffPost Parents Editorial Director Emily McCombs, psychologist Dr. Michele Borba, who is an expert on parenting and bullying, and moms who have been affected by mom-shaming to help drive the conversation forward. In addition, Beech-Nut and its partners are encouraging moms to connect with one another and offer supportive messages via social media using the hashtag #MomItForward.

*Methodology
The Beech-Nut Mom-Shaming survey was conducted online, among 1,000 U.S. millennial moms with at least one child age 5 years or younger. The survey was fielded by Research Now from Feb. 8 to Feb. 9, 2017.

About Beech-Nut
Producing baby food since 1931, Beech-Nut Nutrition Company has been built on a history of innovation and dedication to infant nutrition. Headquartered in Amsterdam, New York, Beech-Nut is the number two leading baby food brand in the United States and is committed to deliver more nutrition for parents and babies. As a subsidiary of Hero AG of Lenzburg, Switzerland, a global leader in consumer goods and infant feeding, Beech-Nut is able to combine global resources to continuously improve food and nutrition for infants.

The new campaign comes on the heels of some major innovation at Beech-Nut.  Upgrades, including  proprietary ColdPuree^TM  jars and pouches prepared in order to preserve nutrition, taste and color(no), Infant Cereals in convenient measurable and pourable packaging, and a first-time expansion into toddler offerings with new Toddler Snacks, are just a few examples of how Beech-Nut is expanding its mission to support parents by providing high-quality, healthy food for their little ones.

SOURCE Beech-Nut