--- title: Mexico City Breast-Feeding Campaign Features Topless Celebrities description: Health professionals say posters featuring topless celebs send the wrong message about breast-feeding canonical: https://time.com/116610/mexico-city-breastfeeding-campaign-draws-backlash/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-26T20:35:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:52:54.203Z og:title: Mexico City Breast-Feeding Campaign Features Topless Celebrities og:description: Health professionals say posters featuring topless celebs send the wrong message about breast-feeding og:url: https://time.com/116610/mexico-city-breastfeeding-campaign-draws-backlash/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta72265246e76bffd/698690e013c79f255c1923c3/breast-feeding-mexico-city-campaign.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4932 og:image:height: 2774 og:image:alt: Breast Feeding og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mexico City Breast-Feeding Campaign Features Topless Celebrities twitter:description: Health professionals say posters featuring topless celebs send the wrong message about breast-feeding twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta72265246e76bffd/698690e013c79f255c1923c3/breast-feeding-mexico-city-campaign.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mexico City Breast-Feeding Campaign Draws Backlash > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=c62925c7-5fc4-4717-b5f5-96a2d820dba1&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Critics Say Mexico City’s Breast-Feeding Ad Campaign Is Too Sexualized [Watch (HLS stream): Critics Say Mexico City’s Breast-Feeding Ad Campaign Is Too Sexualized](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2UYqgInO.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2014-05-27. There have been plenty ads pushing the practice of breastfeeding, but many critics say an ad campaign from Mexico City is sending the message the wrong way._  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 26, 2014 8:35 PM UTC There have been plenty ads pushing the practice of breastfeeding, but many critics say an ad campaign from Mexico City is sending the message the wrong way.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 26, 2014 8:35 PM UTC Mexico City’s new health campaign to encourage new mothers to nurse has left a sour taste in health advocates’ mouths due to campaign posters that feature topless celebrities. The posters show famous women without shirts or bras on, with a banner reading, _“No les des la espalda, dale pecho,”_ or “Don’t turn you back on them, give them your breast,” strategically placed across their chests. Health advocates are peeved that the campaign both sexualizes women and faults those who choose not to breast-feed, rather than simply emphasizing the benefits of doing so. “It’s not only a very terrible campaign in terms of how it looks, but it’s also the message that if you don’t breast-feed, you are a bad mother and you are the one to blame,” Regina Tames, of the reproductive-rights group GIRE, [told NPR](http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/05/26/315281803/mexico-citys-campaign-to-encourage-breast-feeding-backfires). Mexico’s breast-feeding rates are among the lowest in Latin America. Only [14% of women](http://www.latintimes.com/mexico-citys-breast-feeding-campaign-backfires-does-it-shame-new-mothers-175664) breast-feed their children for the first six months, according to World Health Organization stats. [Studies have shown](http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/13/understanding-how-breastfeeding-affects-obesity/) that breast-feeding can help lower the risk of childhood obesity and breast cancer, both of which are on the rise in Mexico. The issue is complicated, however, because many women in Mexico City cannot breast-feed because they don’t have access to proper nutrition, don’t have enough maternity leave ([12 weeks on average](http://fr.naalc.org/migrant/english/pdf/mgmexwpr%5Fen.pdf)) and are forbidden from breast-feeding or pumping milk at work. Mexico has yet to sign on to the World Health Organization guidelines that would restrict hospitals from handing out free baby formula to mothers. The advertisements “condemn mothers, rather than informing them about breast feeding, and they reduce a social problem with multiple players — fathers as well as mothers, workplaces, health authorities and public spaces and the community at large — to one person: the mother,” a group of activists wrote in a complaint to the city’s human-rights commission, [reported](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexico-city-slammed-breast-feeding-ads-23813598) by the Associated Press. What’s worse, all the “new mothers” in the new ads show off toned tummies, an unrealistic portrayal of women who have just given birth. Detractors add that the celebrity models — which include actress Camila Sodi, actress Maribel Guardia and boxer Mariana “La Barby” Juárez — are all light-skinned. An unnamed official told the Associated Press that the slogan would be reworked and that the next phase of the campaign may include everyday moms rather than celebrities. ## Transcript [00:00] There have been plenty ads pushing the practice of [00:03] breastfeeding but many critics say an ad campaign [00:05] from Mexico City is sending the message the wrong [00:08] way. This pro breast feeding ad shows topless Latino [00:11] celebrities with the message don't turn your back on [00:14] them give them your breast sprawled across their [00:17] chest, hoping to encourage Mexico City mothers to [00:20] breastfeed. The ad is pushing a practice that health [00:22] officials say could use a boost in popularity. According [00:26] to the World Health Organization only 14 % of Mexican [00:29] women breastfeed their children exclusively for the [00:32] first six months. But, critics argue while many see [00:35] breastfeeding as a great cause, putting toned topless [00:38] celebrities on the cover is not the best way to reach out [00:41] to new mothers. According to the New York Daily [00:44] News, one of the featured models even said the ad [00:46] was in bad taste after seeing it, and asked to not be [00:49] associated with the campaign. It's not only a very [00:53] terrible campaign in terms of how it looks, but it's also [00:57] the message is that if you don't breast feed, it's [01:00] basically because you are a bad mother. And Time [01:02] points out, for many mothers in Mexico City, choosing [01:06] to breastfeed is not a question of desire. Many women [01:09] in Mexico City cannot breastfeed because they don't [01:11] have access to proper nutrition, don't have enough [01:14] maternity leave, and are forbidden from breastfeeding [01:17] or pumping milk at work. It seems though the backlash [01:20] may have worked its magic, the ads are no longer on [01:23] the city's website and several outlets are already [01:25] speculating the next phase of the campaign will include [01:28] everyday moms with a different slogan. 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