Re: BMJ article

Jane,

Interesting article. (The link worked.) Your summation was solid but the following two paragrahs were the crux of it for me:

"Nearly half of respondents did not notice the written warning on the label or the picture of a baby’s bottle with a cross through it. Some (12%) did not understand the meaning of the cross through the bottle. The cartoon bear and her cub seem to provide the most salient misinformation, and the warnings on the label are inadequate to ensure safe and appropriate use of this product. The data suggest that the image of the Bear Brand misleads parents, who believe the coffee creamer is a suitable food for babies.

"Protection of breast feeding by limiting the active promotion of the use of breast milk substitutes by formula companies is the central goal of the international code of marketing of breast milk substitutes.4 24 25 The sugar based coffee creamer, according to its label, is 'not . . . a breast-milk substitute.' The logo on the label of the bear holding a cub in the breastfeeding position, however, conveys quite the opposite message, making this a somewhat different type of code violation."

As a general rule, visual rhetoric is more difficult to pin down than verbal rhetoric is. This is partly because there are "rules" of syntax and grammar that allow people to identify verbal claims but it is partly because we tend to take the visual less seriously.

While there is legitimate need for certain warnings and cautionary notices, a disclaimer is good evidence that there has been a claim that needs dissing. The inclusion of "not . . . a breast-milk substitute" clearly implies "it is reasonable to assume that people will believe that this -is- a breast milk substitute." This does not mean that the company deliberately set out to confuse people and threaten the health of babies but regulators are more at ease stopping misleading verbal aspects of brand identities (e.g., here in the US reconstituted orange juice with the word "fresh" in the overall brand name has been disallowed) than visual claims.

Gunnar
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-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] on behalf of Jane Teather
Sent: Fri 9/12/2008 7:13 AM
To: Discussions about information design; Yong Kwok
Subject: InfoD-Cafe: BMJ article
 
Today's /British Medical Journal (BMJ)/ contains a report of research on 
a dangerously misleading product label.

I think the online mag is subscription-only, so this link may not work: 
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/337/sep09_2/a1379

So here is a summary:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Laos a popular coffee creamer is marketed with an illustration of a 
mother bear holding a baby bear in the breastfeeding position. The first 
listed ingredient is sugar and it contains 3.6% of calories as protein 
and 27.3% as fat. For infant formulas the recommended content is 
7.2-12.0% protein and 40-54% fat. The coffee creamer is sold in many 
rural roadside shops. The company uses the same Bear Brand logo on its 
canned sterilised cows' milk product and on infant formula products for 
infants from 6 months. A warning on the can states "This product is not 
to be used as breast milk substitute" in English, Thai, and Lao. There 
is also an illustration of a feeding bottle with a cross through it.

*Results of research:* Of 26 paediatricians surveyed, 24 said that 
parents "often" or "sometimes" fed this product to infants as a 
substitute for breast milk. In the capital city, paediatricians said 
that mothers used the product when they returned to work. In the 
countryside, they reported that poor families used it when the mother 
was ill or died. Of 1098 adults surveyed, 96% believed that the can 
contains milk; 46% believed the Bear Brand logo indicates that the 
product is formulated for feeding to infants or to replace breast milk; 
80% had not read the written warning on the can; and over 18% reported 
giving the product to their infant at a mean age of 4.7 months (95% 
confidence interval 4.1 to 5.3)

*Conclusion:* The Bear Brand coffee creamer is used as a breast milk 
substitute in Laos. The cartoon logo influences people's perception of 
the product that belies the written warning "This product is not to be 
used as a breast milk substitute." Use of this logo on coffee creamer is 
misleading to the local population and places the health of infants at risk.

-- 
Regards
Jane

_______________________________
Jane Teather
JET Documentation Services
54A Ferme Park Road
London
N4 4ED

tel: +44 (0) 20 8348 9213
mobile: +44 7967 366 252
[email protected]

Fellow of the Communication Research Institute
http://www.communication.org.au 



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