Iconic cereal brand Special K has featured its first ever pregnant woman on a limited edition box. According to the brand, it’s the first time in history a pregnant woman has appeared on a cereal box .
The featured celebrity is American cookbook author Molly Baz, 36, who was thirty-nine weeks pregnant when the campaign was shot. Baz is the first of several “inspiring individuals” who are being celebrated as part of Kellogg’s “Special for a Reason” marketing campaign.
On the box, Baz is dressed in a red bomber jacket with her pregnant belly exposed. The author of two cookbooks, including Cook this Book and More is More has been campaigning for positive representations of the pregnant bodies since becoming pregnant.
In an Instagram post about her collaboration with Special K, Baz wrote: “It is without a doubt one of the greatest joys of my career to date to be the first preggo woman ever on a CEREAL BOX !!! and not just any cereal but the GOATed SPECIAL K!!!!!!”
“Real talk, this campaign, which we shot at 39 weeks preg is all about celebrating pregnancy, and giving more air time and representation—with a cereal box as our billboard— to pregnant women and their very special, very real, pregnant bodies, everywhere.”
Recently, she was featured in an ad selling lactation cookies (called “Big Titty Cookies”) she created in partnership with Swehl, a startup that sells accessories for breastfeeding parents.
On Instagram, Baz described the cookies as a “good and good for you lactation cookie i developed for my fam over at @swehl are lactation cookies a real thing? we’re not totally sure but we do know these are silly delicious and just so happen to be packed with healthy anti-inflammatory stuff (helloooo oats, flax, coconut, turmeric!!) 🍪🍪🍪”
The campaign image featured a pregnant, bikini-donned Baz — holding a cookie over each of her breasts — next to the words “Just Add Milk.”
Shortly after, a New York Times report revealed that the ad was pulled from a rotation of digital billboards in New York City by an outdoor advertising company.
“It appeared to be another example of what some experts have said is a double standard that persists in the advertising world: a sexualized breast is acceptable, a nursing or lactating one is not,” reporter Alisha Haridasani Gupta wrote.
In an Instagram post, Baz reacted to the news: “Extremely disappointed and yet not at all surprised that our cheeky little breastfeeding empowerment campaign was deemed “inappropriate” by @clearchanneloutdoor and our billboard removed after just 3 days.”
“I’ve done a lot of campaigns in my day but as soon as my pregnant belly and breasts got involved things apparently got real uncomfy for some folks 🤔”
“Take one look at the landscape of other billboards in times square and i think you’ll see the irony. Bring on the lingerie so long as it satiates the male gaze.”
She went on to thank the Times for “bringing awareness to a conversation that has been run by and censored by the patriarchy for far too long. Are we outraged? Yes. Will that stop us from celebrating the miracle and magic of motherhood this weekend? fu***k no.”
A week later, the ads were back on the Times Square billboards, thanks to a fancy probiotics company who donated their ad space to Swehl.
Baz said the probiotics company “generously donated their ad space to run our HOT AND EMPOWERED, PREGGO AND READY TO MF BREASTFEED @swehl campaign on their times square billy-b.”
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the unwavering support of our mission, and message, for seeing a double standard and refusing to stand for it, and for celebrating women for exactly who we are, lactating titties and all,” she posted on Instagram.
Image: Special K / Kelloggs