Oscars 2020: The Academy rejects pregnancy ad for being 'too graphic'
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The 60-second ad rejected by The Academy opens with the sound of a crying baby while a mother struggles to get herself out of bed.
A new ad that portrays motherhood as you've never seen it before is now in the middle of a controversy as reports came out that it has been rejected by The Academy from being showcased during the Oscars 2020 ceremony.
Frida Mom, a US brand that produces specialised products for postpartum recovery, wanted to show a raw, no-filter representation of what mothers go through after giving birth. It features mesh underwear and oversized pads for postpartum bleeding.
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The brand claims their ad was banned by The Oscars US broadcast rights holder ABC for being "too graphic" and showing "partial nudity and product demonstration".
The 60-second ad opens with the sound of a crying baby while a mother struggles to get herself out of bed as her postpartum belly pokes out from her pyjama top.
The child's mother is shown to be wearing an adult diaper. The new mum makes her way to the bathroom where she is seen to be in physical pain, dealing with the aftermath of childbirth.
"It is just a raw and honest emotionally-driven short story showing women what to expect," sais Frida CEO Chelsea Hirschhorn defending it. "Knowledge is confidence...and there's a deep fear in not knowing what to expect."
They also cited ABC's rules against running ads about political candidates and positions, religious or faith-based messages and positions, guns, gun shows, ammunition, feminine hygiene products, adult diapers, condoms, or hemorrhoid remedies during the broadcast.
It finishes with the message: "postpartum recovery doesn’t have to be this hard" before panning to a number of Frida Mom products.