Dear Clearblue,
I’ve been purchasing your products for years. I’ve used your ovulation kits to track my cycle, relied on your pregnancy tests for a clear result after fertility treatment and stared down at the words “not pregnant” more times than I care to admit. And I feel the need to tell you this:
Those perfectly filtered, celebrity endorsed, #Sponsored pregnancy announcement campaigns are alienating your largest group of consumers.
The people buying your products month in, month out, throughout complex, medicated cycles, IVF treatment and heartbreaking loss aren’t engaging with the posts from celebrities who seem to achieve pregnancy after buying one box of ovulation sticks.
The people injecting hormones, popping pessaries and going from waiting room to hospital bed and back to the waiting room again don’t want to see a flawlessly whitened set of veneers boasting about how easy it is to get pregnant.
The people still waiting for a positive test after years and years don’t want to read about the Insta-Model who conceived exactly when she wanted to or the Mummy-Blogger who got pregnant with her third child the first month of trying.
The people who spend a fortune trying to make a baby don’t want to be taunted by the hashtag ‘spon’ pregnancy announcements of the rich and famous cashing in on their happy news.
The people counting down the days until they can find out the result of their embryo transfer don’t want to see paid partnerships with newly pregnant millennials who only just learnt what an LH surge is.
The people whose hearts are shattered by the words “not pregnant” every single month don’t want to be bombarded with pixelated reminders of the result they didn’t get, but desperately hoped for.
The people terrified that their latest positive test will once again end in heartbreak don’t want to watch the exuberant celebration of others reading the result of theirs.
The people navigating secondary infertility and dreaming of another child don’t want to see photos of gleeful toddlers waving sodden white sticks in the air.
The people hoping to conceive as a solo parent or with the help of a donor or a surrogate don’t want the endless spam of heterosexual couples holding hands and cradling blossoming bumps all over their feed.
The people who have tried and tested and waited and hoped and prayed for a baby don’t want to be reminded of the people for whom pregnancy is yet another totally, unexpected surprise.
The people who bulk order pregnancy tests, desperately hoping that one of them, one month, one day might display the word “pregnant” cannot relate to any of the cheerful, happy-go-lucky faces of the uber-fertile featured on your social media page.
And yes, you can call me a jealous, bitter, twisted, angry infertile woman if you wish…. but I am also a consumer, one of YOUR consumers – and there are millions of potential customers just like me who aren’t being represented by your brand.
Please diversify your narrative.
Show us the IVF success stories.
Show us the pregnancy after loss stories.
Show us the devastatingly complicated, raw and unedited miracle stories from the 1 in every 7 people who have difficulty conceiving.
Because we’re the ones who might be buying your products for months – if not years – after those super fertile customers of yours share their positive test on social media.
We want the #ClearblueConfirmed result just as much as they do.