#MotrinMoms are Out of Line

I took the weekend off from the computer, so I missed this affront against humanity while it was fresh, but you're likely already aware of the greatest insult against women since the denial of their suffrage. Yes, you guessed it, I'm talking about the #motrinmoms meme.

Clearly, even insinuating for a moment that wearing a baby sling is a fashion statement or anything less than murderous on your back is akin to criticising President-Elect Barack Obama.

Here's the thing, though... Motrin? They're not wrong. I've worn the damn things, and granted my son is a behemoth compared to most newborns (he weighed over nine pounds at birth), but the thing is the least comfortable thing in the world.

The biggest gripe doesn't seem to be that they're uncomfortable, as Motrin says, but that it's offensive to call a baby sling a fashion statement. I could argue with a couple hundred words how not just baby slings, but babies themselves are becoming fashion statements in today's culture...

... but pictures are worth a thousand words.

If that's not fashionable or trendhopping, I'm not sure what is.

I originally bought one because I thought it would make my life easier. I work from home, my wife worked out of the house towards the beginning of our son's life (though she later cut back). I figured it would be easy to hook the kid up to the sling and do my daily typing.

It wasn't. The sling was bulky and uncomfortable. The straps dug into my shoulder, and tended to be much easier to recline with the baby laying on my chest while I typed.

Here's my point - the baby sling isn't a function item - meaning it must be a fashion accessory.

Boy oh boy, truth hurts. Maybe that's why everyone's so offended? They've been called out?

The question then becomes - what does a company do when they find that a special interest group on the Social Webs gets offended over nothing?