Today in gentle reminders: Diapers should not be sexy

Let’s be honest, the words “diaper” and “sexy” should never appear in the same sentence, but that’s not what Huggies would have you believe.  The brand recently launched a campaign in Israel for their “Jeans” line that features children posing like they’re in a fashion magazine,

At first glace this seems like it’s a cute parody of how clothes are marketed to adults, but when you think about it, it’s weird and kind of creepy that they’re making toddlers pose ‘sexily’ for the sake of selling a type of diapers that are already kind of ridiculous and unnecessary.  Here’s why:

Denim diapers are essentially the shortest jorts ever.  Short-short tight jorts aren’t a great look on most adults, so why would we inflict tiny, tight jorts on small children?  It’s just going to make going back through baby pictures that much more embarrassing.

Diapers are not a fashion statement.  Yes, companies jazz them up with colors and cartoon characters, but it’s all just a distraction from the fact that you’re strapping a contraption to a small child to keep them from pooping on the floor.  This is a utilitarian garment.  It does not need to look ‘cool.’

Babyhood is not the time to worry about appearances.  People have the rest of their lives to look good and stress about looking good, can they not just enjoy this brief period where they can run around in a diaper and maybe a t-shirt in public and that’s acceptable?

They’ve dragged innocent, beloved characters into this.  Some of these jean diapers have Winnie the Pooh on the back of them.  I’ll let you make your own joke.

We don’t need to make kids be tiny adults.  Eventually, children will naturally grow up into full size adults.  Why must we rush this process?  Let kids be kids.  Let them wear diapers that look like diapers.

If we’re making diaper jeans, what is the next step?  This denim diaper nonsense is just steps away from a “diaper thong” skit that was on SNL years ago and I somehow cannot find a link to, but I swear it happened.

Call me old fashioned, but I remember when diaper commercials used to be focused on things like being leak resistant and how much a kid could play in them. You know, the most IMPORTANT THINGS A DIAPER DOES. While this shift in tactics isn’t shocking given current advertising trends, that doesn’t make it okay.

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