"Cry for the Law" is a campaign that seeks to raise awareness about the reality of breastfeeding in public in Spain, a problem rarely addressed before now. And at the same time, it seeks to achieve a law that protects breastfeeding in public spaces.

A bit ambitious, isn't it?

However, by launching the campaign, people's indignation at learning that these things still happens and the obvious need to eradicate this gender injustice from Spain in the 21st century, combined with the reach of the campaign, have created social pressure. This was essential to arrange meetings with the Ministry of Equality of the Spanish Government and to be able to start a legislative process (always with the condition or warning that the baby will not stop crying until the law is in force).

The campaign raised awareness of the issue, making millions of mothers feel more comfortable breastfeeding in public.

The sexualization of breasts means breastfeeding in public is still considered by many to be something indecent that should take place behind closed doors. That’s right. Even in the 21st century, there are still many people who get upset about seeing a breast feeding a baby.

According to studies, women are still subject to insults and asked to leave public spaces while breastfeeding, and this issue arises due to the absence of any legal protection for breastfeeding in public.

Teta&Teta, an organization that fights for the desexualization of breasts, was looking for a campaign that would raise awareness about the importance of this issue, while at the same time seeking to achieve a law to put an end to it.

The WHO recommends breastfeeding as the way newborns should be fed for at least the first 6 months. However, in Spain, only 28.5% of mothers do so, while the global average is 41%.

The first reason why mothers decide not to breastfeed is the difficulty of reconciling it with work activities. The second reason is "the discomfort of breastfeeding in a public place."

There were no studies on this issue in Spain, so we conducted them in conjunction with the brand, and the figures confirmed what we thought: 1 out of 2 women in Spain have had to hide to breastfeed. 15% have been actively criticized. And 85% believe that there should be a law that protects the right to breastfeed in public.

Only Australia (1984), the United Kingdom (2010), and the United States (2018) have laws that protect the right to breastfeed in public places. Italy (2017) and France (2021) are in the process of introducing legislation.

Spain needs a law that recognizes breastfeeding in public places as a right.

In Spain, there is a well-known saying: "Quién no llora no mama," which means "If you don't cry, you don't get." Inspired by this, we set out to put the saying into practice and cry until a law protecting breastfeeding in public is passed.

Together with the award-winning sculptor Cristina Jobs, we created a hyper-realistic baby with an integrated sound system that continuously emits crying sounds. We installed it in one of the busiest areas of Madrid, near the Reina Sofia Museum, to turn it into a symbol of protest.

This constant, annoying crying sound is being heard in different parts of Spain, as different organizations can contact us to host the baby.

It's annoying, isn't it? That's the point. We want to make sure that nobody can ignore it, not even the Spanish government.

The aim of the campaign was to secure a new law. To achieve this, we needed a powerful idea that would resonate with people from all walks of life, regardless of their political beliefs.

Our strategy was to shift the campaign's focus away from women's rights, placing babies at the forefront instead. By highlighting the vulnerability of infants who cannot be fed in public spaces, we were able to avoid any association with the societal prejudice regarding the sexualization of the female breast. This allowed the campaign to be shared even by media outlets with differing ideologies, putting pressure on the government to create the new law.

The sculpture of the baby was installed in the Plaza del Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid on January 23rd, and it has not stopped crying since.

To achieve the level of realism of the baby, we digitally scanned various babies and took features from each one. We worked on the details manually to create a mold, which was then printed in silicone. Multiple layers of paint were applied to the silicone mold to achieve subtle details such as the veins in the eyes.

Next to the baby, there is a QR code that leads to the campaign website, where thousands of mothers have shared their experiences, and different organizations can apply to host the baby and let it continue crying.

The campaign includes a testimonial video featuring several mothers who have had negative experiences while breastfeeding, as well as interviews with professionals including pediatricians, sexologists, and lawyers.

We could mention the social media reach of 4 million.

Or the fact that the campaign was featured in all media outlets in Spain, obtaining €1.6 million in earned media and 201 million media impressions, making the entire country aware of this issue.

Or the more than 56,000 signatures on Change.org.

However, the most important result is a single number: one email from the Ministry of Equality of the Government of Spain, stating that they wanted to meet with us to discuss how to implement this law, just three days after the campaign was launched.

We met on February 14th and the law is now in the process of being created.

Meanwhile, the baby keeps crying and organizations from all over the country keep writing to us to host it.

In Spain, it is common for news stories to appear once or twice a year about mothers being kicked out of restaurants, libraries or museums for breastfeeding their children. This usually happens when they are in well-known public spaces (such as the Prado Museum or a famous restaurant), and the victim must decide to make it public and the media must consider it relevant enough to publish it.

These isolated news stories can generate some peaks of indignation. However, the issue is never explored, nor is a solution sought.

It is only today that many people, upon coming across the "Cry for the Law" campaign, say things like "I didn't realize these things were still happening" or "I'd never heard about this problem before."