For the past few days at work I have been doing research on text messaging teens for health reasons (appointment reminders, health education, medication adherence, etc). I stumbled across one popular program, and, like the IPad (seriously Steve Jobs, was there really no other writing instrument choice that was less...feminine product specific?), I have no clue how this name got approved (and past a marketing department)....EVER.
It is called Text4Baby.
While the ACTUAL purpose of this program is to help expectant mothers with their pregnancy and the baby's first year of life by providing educational text messages timed to the baby's due date, upon reading the name of this program, I am immediately prompted to think if I text this number...I get a baby (as if I really want one right now). Side note, I, like many of my "overeducated and goal driven" female friends, very much fit the mentality of women in a recent study that found that "more children are born to women older than 35 than to teenagers, due to medical science, later marriages and evolving attitudes about motherhood". I believe it. As if childbirth and annoying screaming children were not enough birth control (watch an elementary school let out at 3 pm one day, you will understand completely), as a group of females were taught to put us first, unlike the generation of females before us, and so we did. If only our eggs, like sperm, never went bad (stupid evolutionary defect). Anyway, when thinking about texting and subsequently receiving a baby, my thoughts then take me to...but, where does this baby come from? (my friend suggested it sounds like a child smuggling ring...I could not agree more). I also sort of feel like it sounds like a way to talk to an infertility doctor or an adoption agency. In all honesty, if I saw this on a billboard, or on the t-shirt of some teenage peer educator, I would probably text it as a joke (and be incredibly bummed at the result)...and other people might text...well, for a baby.
Baby. It's Whats For Dinner.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
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Good point about the iPad, I think you just brought it to my attention why I subconsciously cringe when its names mentioned.
ReplyDeleteText4Baby is a pretty cool idea, but yes maybe they should of thought about the name more in fact I've come up with a perfect solution, I cant even believe my own genius...are u ready..."Texts4Baby" yes that s says it all.
I love how Text4Baby is sponsored by MTV's 16 and pregnant. Yep.....
ReplyDeleteMs. B, there are some better versions of the text4baby concept...my favorite (the most successful) being SexInfo in California.
ReplyDeleteTTD. I saw that...they kept linking me to some episode where it was featured and I was like...this is NOT helping your cause.
hahahaha oh god! Well atleast there doing something positive while exploiting the entertainment of watching a 16 year old deal with those issues. I mean cmon they arent fooling anyone with there "its educational" speech, if they wanted to be educational they could show more of the yucky bits :) They show bad bits and the downside of course but it seems to be equally up and down where it should be a clear message.
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