The Time Facebook Validated Our Work

We worked REALLY REALLY hard to make mimijumi bottles mimic the breast as much as possible. Since the company was founded, we've been saying that our bottles are "second only to mom". When we designed the nipple of a mimijumi bottle, we focused on the features that would cause it to act and feel the most like a breast. We made the flow rate non-existent so that the baby would have to work for the milk (just like they do at the breast), we made it a not too hard but not too soft texture, we created a natural, built-in anti-colic system, and we made it shaped to feel like nursing from a breast. We have always maintained that the nipple on a mimijumi bottle would act like a breast, and the similarities in appearance, while there, were mostly just by chance. We hear it all the time, the mimijumi LOOKS like a breast. While not exactly by design, it's also not something we've ever complained or worried about. If the bottle is designed to act like a breast, it only stands to reason that it resembles the breast some as well.

Lately, we've been loving connecting with our fans on Facebook, and wanted to run a quick campaign to let people know we were there. If you aren't a fan on Facebook, we'd love to see you there! The drama surrounding Facebook removing breastfeeding pictures is long and involved. It is on-going and topic enough for its own blog post. For the record, we support parents feeding their child any way possible. While we agree that breast is best, we also know that it's not always possible or convenient, so we also support bottle feeding. Facebook's official policy on photographs depicting breastfeeding is as follows:

Yes. We agree that breastfeeding is natural and beautiful and we're glad to know that it's important for mothers to share their experiences with others on Facebook. The vast majority of these photos are compliant with our policies.

Facebook has a strict policy against the sharing of pornographic content and any explicitly sexual content where a minor is involved. We also impose limitations on the display of nudity. We aspire to respect people’s right to share content of personal importance, whether those are photos of a sculpture like Michelangelo's David or family photos of a child breastfeeding.

Pretty understandable, right? Don't be pornographic, but breastfeeding pictures are totally cool. If only it were that simple. Without going to far into the insanity that is the ACTUAL approach to breastfeeding, let's just say that all too often pictures of babies breastfeeding are removed for violations of nudity. It's become a pretty well-known fact. But what really surprised us, is when we got this message about an ad campaign we were getting ready to run.

Wait what?

Rather than taking this offensively and as an attack from Facebook, we're saying thanks. Thank you, Facebook, for lumping us in with the great number of breastfeeding photos and videos that have been removed. Thank you for validating our design and saying that it looks way too much like a breast to be appropriate. We're taking this denial as a big pat on the back. Because according to whatever software decides if a photo is appropriate or not, a mimijumi bottle is just too breast-like. And that my friends, is exactly what we had hoped for.