The “I’ve Got Chic in My Pants” banned Huggies commercial, although shocking in its humor, should be of no surprise. Advocates of cloth diapers point out that disposable diaper companies prove over and over that their main concern is parental convenience. Convenience sells diapers.
While Huggies might argue the commercial is supposed to be funny, it reveals the underbelly of the entire industry. Disposable diaper companies are not concerned about the well-being of our children; they market to parents who have given in to the notion that a diaper shouldn’t need to be changed immediately after baby pees – or in this case, poops.
Though disposable diaper companies have historically focused their commercials on absorbency, fit and function, in an interview with the New York Times, Richie Glickman, the creative director who worked this commercial, said Huggies is “moving away from the saccharine and getting into a little more reality and humor.”
The commercial certainly does have humor – 5 year old, base, potty humor. The ad begins with an 18 month old baby stepping out in a yellow oxford shirt and a soiled Huggies Little Movers Jeans Diaper. The voice over says, “My diaper is full – full of chic”, “When it’s No. 2, I look like No. 1″, and “I poo in blue”.
Whether a diaper is full of “chic” or full of pee, it should be changed immediately. Super-absorbency and diaper designs that hide the fact a baby has soiled their diaper does not respect a child’s right to be clean and comfortable.
Imagine the ad represented an incontinent, 85 year old man strutting in his yellow oxford and sporting a denim Depend. Would the ad be as well received? Of course not. Why? Is it only adults that shouldn’t have to sit in their urine and feces until someone can get around to changing them?
Something to think about.
What do you think?
Bryana is the owner of 
Becca is a part-time Spanish Teacher and part-time Stay-At-Home-Mom. She's a cloth diaper expert who enjoys spending time with her family, crafting and selling her wares in her very own
Julie is a mom to three kids including a set of identical twins. Through cloth diapering her twins she developed a passion for the industry and is an avid cloth diaper advocate. You can also find her on her blog
Excellent point! Babies are no less people just because they can’t voice their opinions!
Excellent post. Thank you for starting a discussion on this topic.
One of the top reasons for leaks in the cloth diaper industry isn’t due to buildup or bad PUL.. it’s due to the fact that babies just aren’t meant to wear the same diaper for hours on end.
In disposable diapers, while it may be true that all of the chemicals in the diaper keep the baby’s skin a bit “dry” it doesn’t take away from the fact that urine actually ACTIVATES those chemicals, so not only are babies sitting in their own excrement, but they are also sitting in tons of “activated” chemicals.
Rule number one… CHANGE YOUR BABY’S DIAPER. Even an age old company, such as Huggies, should advocate for that!
I think this commercial is stupid
Well said. You do an excellent job of exposing the disposable diaper corporate heads for what they are. Perhaps they should walk around with soiled diapers for a few hours. Wouldn’t you love to see that?!
What a coincidence! I just saw this commercial this morning and didn’t know what to think!
I’d LOVE to see a cloth diaper commercial or cloth diapers in the same aisle as the disposables at Target.
The whole idea of the blue jean dispos diaper completely disgusted me. When I saw the commercial I just thought it was silly and not in a good way. Then I heard the words. Eck! Isn’t Huggies the one with the ridiculously false “facts” comparing disposies to cloth diapers and how they are supposedly better for the environment?! I think we should all boycott Huggies products, but I think I’m preaching to the choir on that one. :)
I laughed when I saw the commercial–I admit, I’m a fan of potty humor. But you raise a good point, parents are too concerned about their own convenience. I mean, the first thing out of most people’s mouths when they find out I cloth diaper is “I couldn’t do that” or “I don’t have time for laundry.” Since when is raising a baby all about you???
Roxanne–Pampers has the “facts” not Huggies. And I went beyond boycotting Pampers, I boycott all P&G!
Wow.. that’s udderly rediculous… wow..
But I cloth diaper full time so I thought the whole let’s try to make disposables as cute as cloth idea was stupid to begin with
That is the first time I’ve seen the commercial. I found it very disturbing! Leaving a poopy diaper on a baby really contributes to diaper rash, but then P&G, Kimberly Clark etc. can sell more diaper rash creams. Babies should be changed promptly, no matter what. Reusable cloth diapers are so much better than paper diapers in every way!
Great article. It’s a parents job to make sure that their child is clean and comfortable. Not everything is about convenience.
I think this commercial is actually pretty funny. I didn’t get the message of “don’t change your baby’s diaper often” at all. The “diaper is full of chic” comment is supposed to make you laugh, not think, “Wow, the baby’s diaper is full and his parents don’t have to immediately change it! That’s awesome!”
Anyway, I use cloth dipes on my baby girl (which is why I follow this blog). But I don’t think this commercial is promoting the “convenience” of disposable diapers. To be honest, it doesn’t have to. Most people assume they are going to use disposable diapers on their babies, anyway. Whether that’s right or wrong isn’t for me to judge.
All in all, I think it’s a commercial, and it does exactly what a commercial is supposed to do – try to sell the product.
I have to agree with Katie… I think that commercial is hilarious. Anyone who it persuades to buy those diapers, were going to buy disposables anyway.
I am a part-time CDer. Haven’t really gotten my husband on board yet. I have conveniently stopped buying sposies–and offer him only the GroBaby biosoakers to use. For some reason, he and the nanny have a difficult time using them. DS leaks a LOT in them… but not when I put the diaper on.
Anyway, my point is that some things, just aren’t worth ruffling your feathers over. People ask me–how can you cloth diaper or use those silly flushable diapers. Isn’t it a pain? I say, “no. It takes barely more time than a disposable and I don’t have to think about all the chemicals touching my kids intimate areas.” Cloth diapering will become more popular because of people like us… who cloth diaper and talk to others about it. But, don’t think for a second that if BumGenius or FuzziBunz or some other CD company started making commercials… they wouldn’t exploit whatever the “cute” factor of the diaper was. You make commercials focusing on what you think the positives are…not the negatives.
I think the “full of chic” comment was really distasteful…and sadly, I know many parents who don’t change their children until the sposies are nice and squishy. However, if you want to sell more product, shouldn’t you be encouraging consumers to change more often?
I think that the article is taking things a bit too far. Sure, the humor is ridiculous.
But it’s a bit of a stretch to imply that diaper companies are encouraging parents to ignore the wet/dirty conditions of their child’s diaper! Good grief!
I just don’t think that we need to draw negative assumptions about disposable diaper companies in order to emphasize the positive qualities of cloth. Cloth diapers can stand on their own two feet. :)
This is a great post! It is so sad that parents choose to use disposables simply for their convenience. In my mommy opinion, it’s no longer about me – it’s about my children and their comfort (and safety!)
I am so glad that others are starting to see through using disposables.
Also, you have to love how their catchy gimmick lines are always referring to “absorbency”. Do they not understand that just because the diaper is holding all this pee – the pee is not being wicked away from baby’s skin – the babies/children are sitting right in it!
Parents who use disposables should really take a closer look at cloth diapering and it’s benefits to their children. They should also take into consideration the inconvenience to their little one’s when using disposables.
I wasn’t amused by the commercial (but the kid is cute) but I didn’t get “leave your kid in a poopy diaper” at all. Without all the commentary, I’d have just thought that it implies it isn’t an embarrassment immediately after the kid poops, not advocating leaving them there in poop. But then, I never thought that the super absorbency means I should be leaving my kid in a wet diaper either, just that it was less likely to leak. (But maybe I’m just cranky because I’ve been having such a terrible time with cloth since I switched about 3 months ago.)
It’s a total shame the commercial now airs with ‘My diaper is full, full of fashion’ rather than ‘full of chic’
I see it about 60 times a day on PBS Sprout when my son is watching it.
I’m sick!
I don’t care for the commercial myself but I wouldn’t exactly like any sposie commercial. It also plays off of society’s sex sells way of advertising in my opinion.
Amber, What’s going on with your cloth diapers? How old is your little one and what are you using? Maybe we can help you get it sorted out.
I didn’t read into the commercial like that…we loved it! The song, the look, we all cracked up and enjoyed it. Great advertising. I think everyone knows you should change a diaper as needed. This commercial was about buying “cool” and that kid looked way cool. Fun advertising, Huggies! Thanks for livening up the usual boring commercial diet.
I thought I was watching a parody from SNL the first time I saw this commercial and every other time since! This commercial does not focus on the product — a diaper that looks like jeans. All I can think about in what’s in the baby’s diaper. Yuck! This concept never should have made it out of the mens’ room, er, uh, art department!
I agree about changing a baby as soon as possible. But my main disgust is the diaper itself… NOT CUTE… in fact its kind of creepy?!?!?!
Commerical is kind of creepy and why on Earth promote not changing a poo diaper? GROSS.
I can’t believe they thought DENIM would be cute, that’s the best they could do? That’s got nothing on my adorable Goodmamas or bright fun Bottombumpers! If sposie parents will buy denim…what would they do if they saw cute cloth prints it the store! There’s no comparison in cuteness ;)
Shocked and offended by this child porn ad. Putting the little boy as a sexual object NOT FUNNY. So offended, I googled it and I see others are offended.
Kiddie porn isn’t cute or funny.
It’s June 20 and on the air in Florida!
I think the commercial is funny. I love my cloth diapers but I think these are cute and could see why people would be tempted to buy them. I see what is being said as far as leaving a baby in their urine or poopy. Kids shouldn’t have to sit in a wet or dirty diaper for any length of time but sometimes it can’t be helped. That is when you want an absorbent diaper. Like when your baby takes a long nap, car rides, shopping trips. For a mother of two kids under two I think convenience is great and I can’t get enough of it. Again, I am a cloth diaper mama with my new baby and I am working hard on potty training my toddler so that we can get rid of his disposables because he won’t let me put a cloth diaper on him, trust me I have tried since I started cloth diapering with my second son.
I didn’t get the “leave your kid in soiled diapers” from that at all, I think that’s taking a big leap. I think the commercial is hilarious and isn’t likely to convince someone to buy them who wasn’t already buying. And like was said above, if (when?) CD starts advertising they are going to exploit the cute factor too.
I think this commercial is hilarious also. The “leave your kid in a soiled diaper” angle is a real stretch. Sounds like it was made up by the jealous competition to me!
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