(NewsNation) — After one billboard ad was removed from Times Square, celebrity chef Molly Baz is featured in another in hopes of sparking a conversation about feeding children.
New moms face a lot of pressure, and one issue that is often called into the court of public opinion is how they choose to feed their babies.
Baz wanted to shift that conversation in a positive direction with an ad for lactation cookies that went up on a billboard in Times Square.
The beloved chef, cookbook author and self-proclaimed Caesar salad enthusiast became a mother this summer.
In the original billboard ad, a pregnant Baz posed with lactation cookies she had created for breastfeeding company Swell.
But the billboard provider yanked the ad quickly, citing a violation of acceptable content.
“What it made me realize is how much work there is to do and how much of a bigger conversation there is that needs to be had around the representation of a woman’s body in media,” Baz told NewsNation.
That’s when formula company Bobbie stepped in.
“To watch a beautiful woman’s pregnant body getting policed, talking about lactating getting taken down?” said founder Laura Modi. “You’re about to fire up a load of moms!”
Just last week, Baz made her way back to Times Square with a billboard reveal of an ad sponsored by the organic formula company.
Now that she’s back to work and combination feeding her newborn son Gio, Baz was shown on the ad breastfeeding her child.
It marked the first time a breastfeeding mother had ever been on a Times Square billboard.
Bobbie showed Baz breastfeeding in her kitchen in the ad, a choice that they say is meant to reassure parents worried about making the wrong choices.
“We are not here to try to normalize formula,” Modi said. “We are here to try to normalize that every mother and every parent will have a different way of feeding.”
The two moms have partnered up to reassure parents everywhere that “Fed is best” in a world where many moms feel judged on their parenting decisions.
“The message loud and clear is that your way is the right way, and your journey will look totally different from someone else,” Baz said.
Modi agrees.
“It’s not about how you feed. It’s truly about what’s best for you and your family,” she said.