Mums are a big presence on the web. Mumsnet — a website that was set up in 2000 to connect mums online to talk about motherhood issues — now has 400,000 visitors a month. Sites such as this, and The Times’ own mums blog Alpha Mummy, give mums an outlet for issues such as whether or not Shrek the Third screenings should have featured “terrifying” ads about Madeleine McCann in 2007.

Now mums worldwide have got their knickers — and baby slings — in a twist this week after a web video ad for Motrin (a brand of painkiller popular in America) seemed to suggest that carrying babies in slings close to your body was too painful: “Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion; I mean, in theory it’s a great idea: there’s the front baby carrier, the sling, the shwing,” begins the ad, before explaining the ways baby slings can hurt the body. “Motrin’s new ad campaign targeting babywearing is offensive, disrespectful and wrong on so many levels”, rages one online commentator. “Fire your ADVERTISING people, or at least hire a REAL MOM to be on that team!” says another.

The campaign started on Twitter but has echoed all over the web, and includes plenty of outraged mother videos — see an example here. The marketing arm in charge of the ad has issued an apology, saying “We had intended to demonstrate genuine sympathy and appreciation for all that parents do for their babies”. They also removed the video from the website sharpish.

Like any popular online video, the Motrin ad also already has its own parody clip: “Getting a boob job seems to be in fashion”, it begins. In theory it’s a great idea: there’s silicone, saline, under the boob . . . ”

It all just goes to show how many people are really starting to pick up on online adverts. And how powerful they (the people, not the videos) can be.

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