Advocates Say Government Pressured by Formula Companies to `Water Down' Breast-Feeding Ads, says this ABC News story.
The public service campaign was to encourage women to breast-feed, because some health risks to babies are lowered when they're breast fed. But after representatives of the baby-formula industry pressured the government to tone down the public service announcements, toned down they were.
"Officials confirm to ABC News that HHS' Secretary Tommy Thompson met privately with formula industry representatives but turned down meeting requests from breast-feeding advocates," says ABC News.
"The formula industry hired Washington lobbyist Clayton Yeutter, who was the secretary of agriculture for the elder President Bush and a former Republican Party chairman. In a series of letters to Thompson, obtained by 20/20, Yeutter thanked him for making some changes to the campaign and asked for more changes to be made."