Petition: Allow ads for breastfeeding products on Instagram
A few months ago I tried placing a Facebook ad for our Boobs Baby Blankets (see below). A few hours later I got an email stating the ad had been denied because "your ad can't promote sexual or adult products or services".
Wait, what? products for breastfeeding mothers are categorized and "sexual and adult products"? This is insane. Although I was hesitant to change my ad, for obvious reasons, I did anyway, hoping my new ads would be approved.
So I went ahead and changed my ads to promote our Milk Maker tees. The ad was strictly an image of me wearing the tee (see below). This time I wasn't breastfeeding my son, or even holding a baby at all.
Again, my ad wasn't approved. Surprisingly, NONE of my ads were approved.
I thought, surely this must be a mistake. It's probably just a bot that flagged it but as soon as a real, human pair of eyes take a look at it, they'll see that it's not "sexual or adult content" and it'll be approved.
WRONG! After my appeal, I got the below response from Facebooks team. I was flabbergasted. There's no way this can be right... right? So I appealed again. Got the same response from a different Facebook team member.
So Facebook / Instagram, let's have a little heart to heart here. ads that show FAR MORE skin than a mother breastfeeding her child is not categorized as "sexual and adult content"? Let me just give you a quick glimpse into ads that ARE being approved by Facebook.
Sure, you will advertise content where women are displayed as sexual beings, but if we try to advertise how women are deeper, truer, have more fiber and self-worth as mothers... then we're out of control and offensive.
So, If you've ever breastfed, are currently breastfeeding, plan to breastfeed or are just flat out outraged by the fact that lingerie and swimsuit ads (showing far more bare skin) are allowed in Facebook ads policies, but images of breastfeeding mothers showing her bare shoulder is NOT, we urge you to sign this petition.
Because it's not just about these ads, it's about every single breastfeeding mother out there. It's about the entire #normalizebreastfeeding movement. It's about beginning to heal society's shame and stigma about the beautiful natural act of breastfeeding.
It starts here, with us, right now! Let's change the world together. #PowerInNumbers
Click below and sign the petition!