Frida is pulling back the curtain on motherhood. Again.
In a 30-second spot set to debut during Sunday’s 2021 Golden Globe Awards, the brand — which offers solution-based products for parents — showcases the emotional and physical journey of breastfeeding through two new moms.
“Alright girls, you’ve got this: Latch, and latch better, and oh God, unlatch, unlatch,” an encouraging female voice narrates in the opening scene, which shows the moms breastfeeding their babies with their nipples uncensored. (The full one minute and 15 second version can be seen on YouTube.)
As it continues, the commercial details the expectation of new moms to prioritize milk production at the expense of their pain and portrays the mothers DIY-ing their way through lactation woes like using an electric toothbrush to massage out clogged ducts or cabbage leaves to slow the flow.
The commercial coincides with the launch of Frida’s new breast care line that aims to put mom before milk.
“The reality is that women are blindsided by the physicality of breastfeeding — raw nipples, uterine contractions, painful clogs — and no one tells you that it can be as painful as your vaginal recovery,” Chelsea Hirschhorn, mom of three and CEO of Frida told TODAY Parents. “It’s all part of the postpartum physical experience, but it never gets any air time because the end supposedly justifies the means. The spot is a universal depiction of the realities that women and their breasts — breastfeeding or not — go through postpartum.”
This isn’t the first time the parenting brand has lifted the veil on postpartum life.
Last year, their ad showcasing the reality of using their postpartum products was rejected from airing during the Academy Awards for being "too graphic."
The rejected commercial began with a new mom getting out of bed just before 3 a.m. as a baby cries in the background and featured details familiar to new moms — mesh hospital underwear, bulky pads and a postpartum belly. The ad ended with the tagline "Postpartum recovery doesn't have to be this hard" and showcased several Frida products.
“Frida’s mission has always been to address the pain points and realities of parenting, and after the 2019 postpartum launch, we knew that there was more territory to cover,” Hirschorn said. “The problem we set out to remedy with the initial launch was that postpartum recovery begins with a woman's lack of knowledge and ability to prepare for what's really about to go down, Lactation/breastfeeding is no different. But mothers are conditioned to focus entirely on the needs of their babies when they’re born. Much of the discussion about breastfeeding has to do with nourishing the baby, rather than making the mother comfortable.”
The 78th Annual Golden Globes Awards will be broadcast on NBC.
“At NBCUniversal, we are passionate about bringing to life authentic portrayals of women and sharing their stories with people around the world,” said Ann Scheiner, Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales, at NBC Universal. “We are committed to using our platform to share ‘HER’ story — the story of so many women — and are proud to spotlight the joys and challenges of motherhood with this groundbreaking new creative from Frida Mom.”
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