Zero Dollars a Little Talent and 30 days – Day 18 – Another Round of Shirt Ideas, Building Credibility in the Community and a Reader Lends a Hand
An email came in from Danny Sullivan with some ideas based on Little Britain, a popular sketch comedy show in the UK. Apparently one of the better-known sketches revolves around a man and his girlfriend and the man’s relationship with his mother. During the girlfriend’s first trip home to meet his family, he ends up asking his mother for “bitty.” After awhile, she finally gives in and starts to nurse him right there in the living room. The sketch is hysterical in that odd, British sort of way, and apparently the British get a big kick out of “bitty.”So, I added “Get Your Bitty! for adults and “Not Bitty Later, Bitty Now” shirts for kids.
Now, I do watch Little Britain, and I did creep into that exalted group of extended breastfeeders just before Small self weaned, but I’m not sure about this tactic. First off, ‘bitty’ as a term means nothing much to me, and secondly, I’m not sure the sketch does anything to break down barriers. Or is this just me not understanding marketing yet again? Thoughts in the usual place.
Oh, and it’s nice to be home 
13 Comments
Um, well I never thought the Bitty sketches capable of doing the public perception of B/F (let alone extended B/Feeding) any favours really, but then I don’t really like Little Britain. It’s not quite funny.
Not reallly a fan of LB, while some bits are very funny, too much of it is just poking fun at people for whom the subject matter isn’t a joke, and is really just cheap laughs. Or maybe I’m just getting old….
To the matter in hand. The sketch? pretty meaningless really in terms of saying anything about breasfeeding I think. ‘Bitty’ – don’t think that this means anything really very much in general parlance. For this sort of thing to work ISTM the catchphrase needs to ahve made it out into general useage in some way.
Then again maybe Americans would by this because of what they think it means, evwen if over here it would mean little
I agree about not thinking the sketch breaks down barriers, it just makes extended breastfeeding seem even more weird. Some parts of LB I find quite funny but that particular sketch just makes me go ‘ew’, it’s not funny, and it pokes fun at extended bf rather than anything else.
Even if I had been an extended bfer I would *never* in a million years let my toddler wear a t-shirt like that, it just seems downright crass to me.
Don’t watch LB – pretty indifferent to it. But. I don’t think the breastfeeding sketch is poking fun at extended breastfeeding at all, is it? It’s more about class. The sketch wouldn’t work at all if it was just a normal suburban family, or a working class family. It works because the individuals are clearly very upper class and the sketch is poking fun at upper-class mummy’s boys, surely?
Don’t watch LB. But I’ve heard that sketch referred to quite often with people talking about BF older babies/toddlers (not exactly that extended) in a “ew, wouldn’t want to do that” way with an embarassed laugh. At my mum and baby group asking for bitty would definitely be a big no no, people would wean by 6 months to avoid even the posiibility (though most don’t get that far) and LB makes BF seem even more ridiculous.
Interesting… I was wondering what type of feedback they would get. I’ve never understood the British sense of humor but I did think that sketch was pretty funny. (Granted, I never was able to nurse Nora, instead I pumped exclusively for a year.)
I mostly put them up because my British friends said that they would buy them and that they had friends who had just had babies that would buy them (especially the not bitty later..)
Now I’m reconsidering. I’m all for being irreverant and even a little strange, but I’m certainly not looking to offend moms that practice extended nursing.
Welcome Jennifer.
Glad that we’ve been able to offer another point of view, anyway.
Cant see that the sketch has anything to do with breast feeding at all. Its a standard upper-class-twit joke. Unfortunately Little Britian is packed full of standard jokes, which are sometimes funny the first time but after the 10th or the 100th they really dont work!
Dont know where your American lady got the idea that British people like it – except perhaps the millions who are buying the DVDs for Christmas. Baaa.
Little britain panned in the guardian (which, for Jennifer, is sort-of-left-wing middle class socially responsible paper).
Guess we all got there first, didn’t we?
Oh come now…surely me…the right-wing conservative isn’t going to be telling the “sort-of-left-wing” folks to lighten up? LOL.
No really, I’m with you guys on Little Britain…I saw a few sketches and thought it was about the dumbest thing since…well, second grade.
But for some reason, that bitty sketch really struck me as funny.
Maybe I’m spending too many hours working?
Very possibly
anyone would think you liked your work…
Got to say I really enjoyed the first couple of series of LB, including the bitty sketch. I know several extended breastfeeders (feeding four and five year olds), BF my son until he was two and volunteered at local BF drop-in. I care a great deal about breastfeeding but I do like a laugh. I think the reason why LB is not Benny Hill is it is self-aware humour.
The current series is a bit dire – the writing is sloppy and it seems like they’re not bothered as they no it will get the ratings anyway. Talking of ‘notbothered’ I really love Catherine Tate…
I’ve had clients in a breastfeeding class refer to “bitty” so its definitely permeating the culture but its really about exploring where the limits are isn’t it? Still bf Fergus by the way, longest yet at 2.5 yrs and showing no signs of wanting to give up. Its really only in our repressed, post Victorian societies where bf beyond the infant is an issue at all. I liked the bitty T shirts actually, it takes the joke back into “our” realm.