This post is a continuation of the previous one, “Much Ado about Nothing?” and its predecessor, “Tempest in a Teapot?” For Reuters, Chris Kirkham and Lisa Girion reported on how, while Johnson & Johnson’s legal department was occupied defending itself against lawsuits about ovarian cancer, the customer demographic had changed.

With publicity about the danger of inhaling talc, mothers quit using baby Powder for babies, and it got to where more than 90 percent of the product was bought for adult use. Powder is helpful to reduce the discomfort of perspiration in skin folds and fat rolls, especially where the temperature is high.

Kirkham and Girion wrote,

The “right place” to focus, according to a 2006 internal J&J marketing presentation, was “under developed geographical areas with hot weather, and higher AA population,” the “AA” referring to African-Americans.

Reuters analyzed massive amounts of email correspondence and reams of internal marketing documents, along with advertising campaigns, to reveal the strenuous efforts the company has made to sell powder to overweight African-American and Hispanic women (or, as J&J calls them, “curvy Southern women.”)

The reporters mention,

[The company] advertised in Weight Watchers magazine and offered promotions through the Lane Bryant clothing chain for plus-size women and Curves, a women’s fitness and weight-loss franchise. Marketing plans also included ads to run […] during the Style Network show “Ruby,” a reality TV series that documented an obese Georgia woman on a mission to lose weight.

A 2009 presentation the the J&J top brass stated that “43% of our plan will focus on the top 10 overweight states in the nation.” The advertising department consulted with Weight Watchers about exactly how overweight the models in the powder ads should be. They lined up plenty of radio advertising, with contracts specifying that their ads would be broadcast only on hot days.

As always, the campaign was replete with contests, giveaways, coupons, discounts and samples. In the late 2000’s, J&J spent millions — and almost half of its powder promotion budget — on reaching out specifically to minority and overweight women.

The reporters also note:

Today, women who fall into those categories make up a large number of the 13,000 plaintiffs alleging that J&J’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower […] caused their ovarian cancer or mesothelioma.

Is it unethical to target a segment of the public who are already insecure and defensive about their obesity? Is it wrong to appeal to large, perspiring women on the basis that the product will make them smell less offensive to others? Especially when the safety of the product is being contested in vicious courtroom battles? There have been large damage awards to customers in addition to the ones we have mentioned, and the corporation is currently appealing all of them.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “As worries about Baby Powder’s safety mounted, J&J focused its pitches on minority, overweight women,” Reuters.com, 04/09/19
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