Aldi praised for featuring breastfeeding mother in its latest advert: 'It's the most natural thing in the world'
Viewers commend supermarket for challenging stigma surrounding nursing in public
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Your support makes all the difference.Aldi has been praised for helping to normalise breastfeeding in its latest advert by featuring a mother nursing her baby.
The advert – which focuses on the price difference between the German budget supermarket and its competitors – features a young couple, Liz and Drew, with their newborn son, Eli.
As the new parents discuss what Aldi baby products they couldn’t live without, Liz is filmed casually breastfeeding her child.
It is this informal approach to the depiction of nursing, without the use of censorship, that has been hailed as “amazing” by viewers and breastfeeding advocates.
The video has currently been viewed more than 7,000 times, with numerous people expressing their support online.
“Well done Aldi for including breastfeeding in such a normal natural tender way more of this please,” one Twitter user wrote.
Another added: “The new #Aldi advert is on point, some may say forward thinking but it's everyday life to a new mum. Well done #Aldi setting the standard #breastfeeding #NoBodyShame.”
A third person agreed, adding: “YAY @AldiUK for having a mum breastfeeding on your advert and DOUBLE YAY for not making a massive deal of it, because it is so normal.”
In response to the positive reaction, an Aldi spokesperson said its “Swap and Save” adverts portray real customers sharing their real-life experiences.
“We’re pleased that showing the real lives of the people that shop with us has had a wider positive impact,” the spokesperson said.
Aldi’s advert comes at a time when breastfeeding rates in the UK are low, something many blame on the stigma surrounding nursing in public.
A 2018 report by Public Health England (PHE) revealed that the number of women breastfeeding their babies six to eight weeks after giving birth has declined in recent years.
The report states that just 42.7 per cent of mothers breastfeed their babies when they are six weeks old, according to most recent data for 2017-2018.
It adds that this rate has fallen from 43.1 per cent in 2015-2016 and 43.8 per cent in 2014-2015.
This is despite recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) that mothers breastfeed their baby for the first six months of life.
It places no upper age limit on breastfeeding but encourages mothers to do so until their child is around two years old.
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