Molly Baz is among the millennial generation’s most influential cooks, and after she became pregnant, she expanded her reach to the care and feeding of parents and babies. In May, she starred in an ad campaign for the breastfeeding startup Swehl, serving up a new recipe for lactation cookies. In one shot, she wore underwear and a rhinestone bikini, presenting an exposed belly and a pair of oatmeal cookies centered with drops of cherry jam, which she held atop her chest as a goofy visual joke. The ad copy said: “Just Add Milk.”
A 45-foot digital billboard of the image appeared in Times Square shortly before Mother’s Day — and then vanished. The ad network Clear Channel Outdoor said that it had removed the ad from its rotation, deeming it in violation of the company’s guidelines on acceptable content.
When I heard that the Swehl billboard had been censored, I was a little shocked that anyone had been shocked. Baz posted on Instagram about the removal, pointedly including shots of several lingerie ads that still loomed over Times Square, featuring nonpregnant models looking dainty in bikinis and bras. “I think you’ll see the irony,” Baz wrote. “Bring on the lingerie so long as it satiates the male gaze.”
When Demi Moore appeared naked and seven months pregnant on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991, it caused a media sensation that bordered on scandal. Her photograph was primed to sell her A-list Hollywood persona, tickets to her movies, and copies of the magazine. But that was three decades ago, and pregnancy has now been thoroughly eroticized, glamorized and commodified. Especially on social media, it has become a stage for promoting a growing range of consumer items.
As millennials become parents, brands like Swehl have emerged to stamp maternity paraphernalia with our generational tastes, like curvy typefaces and spicy puns; Swehl offers a colostrum syringe called “Secret Sauce” and an ointment called “Balm de Nips.”