Getty The 92nd Academy Awards
The 92nd Academy Awards are currently underway, with the ceremony scheduled to air at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on Sunday, February 9, 2020. As the coverage kicks off, one brand is speaking out about how the Academy has blocked its ad from airing. The brand, Frida Mom, has produced a commercial advertising products for women suffering from postpartum pain.
The ad about postpartum pain was rejected by the Academy for being “too graphic.” On Frida Mom’s YouTube channel, the ad has nearly one million views.
The Ad Aims To Help Women Adjust To Their Postpartum Bodies
Frida Mom, the company behind the controversial ad, made the commercial to show the reality of what life is like for women in the days following giving birth to a new baby. In the commercial, a new mother is shown struggling to use the restroom while juggling her body, which is still bleeding from the birth, and caring for her crying newborn. The ad aims to normalize women’s bodies and to start an open dialogue about what happens to a woman after she has a baby.
On Instagram, the company’s caption on the ad reads “The ad you’re about to watch was rejected by ABC & the Oscars from airing during this year’s award show. It’s not ‘violent, political’ or sexual in nature. Our ad is not ‘religious or lewd’ and does not portray ‘guns or ammunition.’ ‘Feminine hygiene & hemorrhoid relief’ are also banned subjects. It’s just a new mom, home with her baby and her new body for the first time. And we wonder why new moms feel so unprepared.”
Celebrities Speak Up About The Ad
Busy Philipps is using her platform to speak out against the banning of a postpartum ad
As the banning of the ad has sparked backlash and the company has gained support in its campaign to support women and their postpartum bodies, many celebrities have joined the effort to have the commercial aired. One of the celebrities who has spoken up is actress Busy Philipps, who re-posted the commercial onto her Instagram with a message about the importance of speaking openly and honestly about postpartum experiences.
In her Instagram post, Philipps said “This is an ad for new post partum products for women – this ad was rejected from ABC… I legit teared up when I just watched it. Partially because this is clearly an ad made by women who have been there and get it and partially because I DO believe so strongly that the more we can NORMALIZE A WOMAN’S BODILY EXPERIENCE IN MEDIA, the better off our culture and society will be. AND YES THAT MEANS ADS TOO. You probably don’t even flinch when an Erectile Disfunction ad comes on but THIS AD IS REJECTED?! I think this is an incredible piece of advertising that accurately represents something millions of women know intimately. And I’m so f-cking sick of living in a society where the act of simply BEING A WOMAN is rejected by the gatekeepers of media. Well. Shame on them and NOT on us for simply being human women.”
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