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Infant formula marketing has become more intense. As formula companies vie for positioning, customers, and leverage over infant feeding decisions, exclusive breastfeeding has come under attack. Formula companies, especially new and smaller ones trying to break into the market have endeavored to change the narrative on how babies are fed. They are trying to capture the breastfeeding market by redefining infant feeding to that of combination feeding, creating a market where none existed before. Exclusive breastfeeding is positioned as a problem, with formula as the solution to encourage combination feeding as the norm. A blitz of ads on social marketing sites vilify exclusive breastfeeding, use paid influencers to persuade mothers to add formula to their infant’s diet, and tell mothers that it does not matter how they feed their baby. New formula companies have partnered with healthcare platforms, breast pump companies, and retailers to promote combination feeding and desensitize parents to the benefits of breastfeeding. This presentation will expose these new marketing tactics and offer interventions to counter a well funded campaign to erase exclusive breastfeeding.

