Frida, the five-year-old company that makes products for babies and new moms, doesn’t shy away from taboo. Its best-selling products deal with common but rarely discussed baby ailments, such as clogged nostrils (Frida Baby’s “Snotsucker”) and gas or constipation (Frida Baby’s “Windi”).
Some of Frida’s marketing is apparently too taboo for the Oscars, however. The company’s latest advertisement, for products for new moms aimed at post-birth recovery, was recently rejected by ABC after being submitted for play during the Academy Awards that aired on February 9. Frida’s CEO was shocked.
The ads featured during the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday are reportedly more creative than ever before. But ABC, the Oscars’ host network, is drawing the line at advertisements that depict the harsh realities of new motherhood. Frida Mom, a company that sells hygiene products for new mothers, had hoped to air an ad about its new “recovery kit,” which aims to help mothers recover after birth, and use the restroom with ease. The kit includes cooling pad liners, stretchy underwear and perineal healing foam.
But ABC rejected the raw ad, which features a struggling new mother hobbling to the bathroom at night. In between tending to her newborn, she applies creams, puts pads in her underwear, and uses soothing sprays on her vagina. According to Frida Mom, the network deemed the 95-second spot “too graphic with partial nudity” to appear during the Oscars. ABC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Our products help women navigate the otherwise daunting postpartum recovery process…We created a raw and honest portrayal of what women can expect to experience,” Chelsea Hirschhorn, CEO of Frida Mom, said in a statement to Insider. “While this rejection of our ad feels like a step back, it certainly won’t deter us from amplifying our message through whatever channels remain available to us.”
The following is the ad that was rejected by ABC and the Oscars from airing during this year’s award show.
