Theory: What if Huggies were contributing to the diaper/nappy stigma

[quartz200420012]

I won't say Huggies are totally responsible for the stigma around it all - because they're not but I don't think they're really helping either.

I grew up with an old school pediatrician in the 80's and they asked tough questions if your kid was in diapers after a certain age. That being said, you can look at the original packaging for the first generation of Pullups & Goodnites. The original Pullups still had a Huggies logo on it, and the Goodnites pack had a pullups logo on that--- Pullups did eventually dramatically shrink the huggies logo and Goodnites got rid of the pullups branding altogether. IF I was a kid(not ABDL) who had to use these products, I would be embarrassed as hell.

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Huggies(KimberlyClark) essentially has parents locked in from age 0-15....and it wasn't always like that. If you look back when Pampers released size 6, it was actually a way bigger diaper when it first came out--- thus some doctors/advocates got angry.

Essentially Huggies/KC makes it easier for parents to be lazier, but then parents don't seem to care.

 

[ThatGuyFromThatThread]

How? Well let's take a look, Huggies bring out Pullups and the slogan "I'm a Big Kid now!" in an attempt to shame kids out of nappies. Which is all great until you realize that some kids experience bed-wetting which is out of their control and can last anywhere between ages 3 - the rest of their life.

Meaning Huggies is essentially saying that if children have to wear diapers to bed for bed-wetting then they're not "a Big Kid" which is why instead of providing proper night time protection with tabs they opt for the "feels and works just like underwear" route aka Goodnites/Drynites and are definitely not a diaper - "does it say it on the pack?".
This all legitimizes the embarrassment and shame because they're concealing it like it's a hidden devil and if gotten out could ruin them. All the while the kids are pretending to be a "Big Kid" that doesn't need no diaper.

On top of all that is that these are inferior to a tabbed diaper unless you don't move around a lot and don't pee a lot in your sleep. So it's great for those that it works for but what about the kids it doesn't work for? How would they feel?

This leads to kids teasing other kids because they're "still a baby" if they wear diapers, that "Big Kid" mantra still embedded inside of them.

Huggies aren't removing the stigma of nappies/diapers they're actually aiding it by convincing kids and parents that bed-wetting and thus wearing a diaper is soooo embarrassing and "Big Kids" don't wear diapers and it should be avoided at all costs - Here buy these not-diaper pajama pants to deal with it so you don't feel embarrassed.

I won't say Huggies are totally responsible for the stigma around it all - because they're not but I don't think they're really helping either. The stigma has existed well before pullups and goodnites but instead of subverting the stigma they just played right into it further aiding the stigma of diaper wearing.

I agree completely.

To give some context to my opinion, I have a reputation of hating when people say the word "stigma" (since it is often used for things I legitimately don't think qualify as a stigma) and also having no desire for AB/DL (et cetera) to become mainstream. Even then, I completely agree with what you said.

Being a teenager and knowing "There's not much difference between these and diapers (except diapers work better, if you drank too much)." is embarrassing, and being teased about it is humiliating.

I also always wondered why they were in the "baby" or "baby/toddler" isle. I get they don't want it in the "Teen diapers" isle but why not (along with adult and kid diapers) the "pharmacy" isle (or where one finds "Incontinence Products")?

Teenagers are already at a weird crossroads of "kid" and "adult", so anything that makes that journey easier is a good thing.

 

[katierichards7777]

They used that slogan because toddlers often want to be like older children. So it appeals to toddlers and their parents.

You're simply projecting from the looks of it.

Agreed. They're a company and their job is to make money. Children of diaper age are often wanting to "grow up" and this slogan is directed at that.

I was a bed wetter until I was 11. While I wore Goodnites, Huggies selling diapers to babies/toddlers wanting to grow up didn't contribute towards any shame I felt wetting the bed. I still felt like someone "growing up", I just couldn't stop wetting the bed like my peers had. Any peers making fun of that likely weren't thinking of Huggies, they were thinking they had stopped wetting early and here I was still wetting

 

[Prairie]

Diaper companies do everything they can to not create stigma for their products. It's why bedwetting product packaging (misleadingly) cite statistics on how common it is, same for ones aimed at adults. They also would probably not want to have so many product lines, except that the market wants things made specifically for them, because they don't want to be associated with some other segment (pull-ups versus diapers as you mention, adult diapers for younger people wanting to not seem like old-people diapers).

 

[babyjoe698]

Just a few years ago Huggies had a commercial saying when they are to big for pull ups buy Goodnites. Also several parents with children that are older that still needs diapers during the day have ask huggies to make tab diapers the Size of Goodnites