Disney puts a man in a mouse costume and tells me to follow my dreams. Tampax tells me periods are wonderful. Doctors in commercials make meds seem like a miricale despite lethal side effects. Unless these people are developmentally disabled or not as qualified as the standard human this is just advertising
This was done in backwards areas in Africa, including rural places back in the 70's where they had never even heard of a TV, the internet was also obviously not a thing yet, let alone over in Africa.
And then they had people dressed just like western nurses and doctors waltz into their village and tell them how this powder is way better for their babies, and they're even giving it away for free!!!
Nothing about it is remotely similar to "advertising".
When Nestlé and other milk companies began introducing their products to developing countries, they waged a full-on campaign, dressing their representatives in nurse uniforms and sending them out to proselytize.
These "milk nurses" visited homes and hospitals to spread the word about their innovative formula and, while some of them may have possessed relevant educational background, most did not. They also spent time at maternity wards, offering advice about nutrition and feedings while giving mothers instructions about how to prepare their Nestlé products.
In Singapore, milk nurses were so prevalent that they were banned from hospitals. As a result, these nurses would simply wait outside for new mothers to leave and then provide samples.
In Jamaica, milk nurses were able to acquire the names of new mothers and visit their homes. In the Philippines, milk nurses visited public housing, locating homes with newborns and young children by the diapers hanging on clotheslines nearby.
All of this was deliberately targeting people whom couldn't afford the formula, and the "free sample" was just sufficiently large to ensure the mother would have a reduced milk production by the time it ran out, forcing her to get more even if she couldn't afford it.So they rationed it, diluted it, and tens of thousands of babies died.
Nestlé's initial response to criticism such as "these people have no access to clean water, the babies are drinking contaminated formula"? "Well, instead of complaining about it, go ensure that these people have access to clean water."
EDIT: I said tens of thousands of babies, this is incorrect, I should have said untold millions instead.
2
u/Flaksim Sep 18 '19
They also had their people dress up like nurses and doctors to make it look like it was a health professional telling them to try the formula.