Molly Baz, the cookbook author, and her pregnant belly, rhinestone bikini and breasts will be back up in Times Square, uncensored.
A week after The New York Times reported that her billboard for lactation cookies had been “flagged for review” and swapped out for a more conservative image by the company that powered the billboard, Clear Channel, the ad has found a new home. The probiotics supplement and microbiome research brand Seed has donated their billboard to Swehl, the breastfeeding start-up that created the cookie campaign with Ms. Baz. Clear Channel still has not responded to requests for comment.
The original imagery, with the words “Just Add Milk,” will now run for the next three weeks alongside a Seed billboard with a clear message: “Dear Molly, Thankfully we’re not (lactose) intolerant.”
The partnership was the direct result of the anger and backlash on social media over what many called unjust censorship, said Ara Katz, a co-chief executive and a co-founder of Seed. The ad that featured Ms. Baz included no nudity — her breasts were covered by her cookies — yet was flagged despite the fact that Times Square billboards regularly run sensual lingerie ads.
Ms. Katz read the original Times story last week and was determined to help. She reached out to the company that powers her company’s billboards, Lightyear Media, which did not just agree to bring Ms. Baz back. “The women who work there gave us additional ad inventory for free,” Ms. Katz said. That would allow the ad to run more frequently.
“It feels so much bigger than this campaign and this ad,” said Elizabeth Myer, who founded Swehl with Betsy Riley. “It is actually this moment of time we’re in — women are really tired of the double standard around our bodies.”
