Times Square ad featuring pregnant author covering nipples with cookies ‘too much’ for billboard owner

Chris Nesi
·2 min read

This ad got baby bumped.

A Times Square advertisement of a pregnant cookbook author exposing her belly and covering her nipples with cookies was taken down after just 72 hours, the writer said on Instagram.

Clear Channel Outdoor decided the 45-foot digital billboard image of Molly Baz hawking “lactation cookies” was “inappropriate,” Baz said in a post.

The ad was for Swehl brand cookies – made from ingredients believed to stimulate milk production like oats, fennel, and brewer’s yeast – with the tagline “Just add milk.”

The eye-catching Times Square billboard, a partnership between cookbook author Molly Baz and breastfeeding and pregnancy startup Swehl, was deemed “inappropriate” by billboard manager Clear Channel Outdoor and swapped with a less revealing image. Swehl
The eye-catching Times Square billboard, a partnership between cookbook author Molly Baz and breastfeeding and pregnancy startup Swehl, was deemed “inappropriate” by billboard manager Clear Channel Outdoor and swapped with a less revealing image. Swehl

Baz formulated the recipe as part of a team-up with the pregnancy and breastfeeding startup.

It didn’t take long for attention-grabbing ad to be replaced by Clear Channel Outdoor, which owns and oversees many billboards in Times Square and elsewhere around NYC.

Brex, a San Francisco-based fintech company which arranged for the placement of the ad, received an email from the company that the ad had been “flagged for review” and was swapped with a less revealing image from the campaign, The New York Times reports.

“Turns out these big ti—es and preggo belly were a little too much for times square,” the “More is More” author wrote on Instagram Saturday.

The markedly less revealing replacement photo shows Baz smiling in her kitchen, her belly still prominently visible but her chest now covered by a purple crop-top and a short, pink button-down blouse.

Baz’ lactation cookies are made from ingredients believed to stimulate milk production like oats, fennel, and brewer’s yeast. Swehl
Baz’ lactation cookies are made from ingredients believed to stimulate milk production like oats, fennel, and brewer’s yeast. Swehl

“Extremely disappointed and yet not at all surprised that our cheeky little breastfeeding empowerment campaign was deemed “innapropriate” [sic] by @clearchanneloutdoor and our billboard removed after just 3 days,” she continued.

Baz pointed out that Times Square billboards showing a little skin is nothing new and she theorized the context of the image is what got it pulled.

“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 wrote.

Time Square ads for brands like Michael Kors, Rocawear and Calvin Klein routinely feature scantily clad models – both women and men – peddling everything from underwear to lingerie to athleticwear.

Baz points out that billboards featuring nearly naked models is nothing new in Times Square, and posits the reason her ad was removed was because its context wasn’t meant to be titilating. Swehl
Baz points out that billboards featuring nearly naked models is nothing new in Times Square, and posits the reason her ad was removed was because its context wasn’t meant to be titilating. Swehl

Despite the setback, Baz says she’s undeterred.

“Are we outraged? Yes. Will that stop us from celebrating the miracle and magic of motherhood this weekend? F————-k no.”

Clear Channel Outdoor did not respond to a request for comment.