Is This Diaper Commercial Too Sexy?

The adage "sex sells" would seem to not apply to a few product categories, diapers foremost among them, but a new Huggies ad campaign is coming under fire for just that: the sexualization of diapers, and the young children wearing them.

Parents are criticizing the campaign, for Huggies new denim-decorated diapers, on the grounds that the children in the campaign strike provocative poses.

Some parents have even likened the ad to child pornography.

Image source: screengrab via YouTube

“I don’t necessarily know if it was the intent for that little girl to be sexual, but it’s problematic on a larger scale,” parent Shara Ellenbogen told the Times of Israel. “If you put that girl in the same pose at the age of 6 or 10 or 20, at some point it becomes inappropriate. So why is it appropriate for her to pose like that at the age of 3? She is posing like a stripper.”

A company spokesperson responded to the criticism with a muted apology, though Huggies has no plans to pull the ads.

"Since we launched a special edition of the fashion Huggies jeans commercial celebrating color and fun a few weeks ago in Israel, a small number of consumers have shared negative reactions with us, although the response to the product and the commercial remains overwhelmingly positive," he said. "We certainly regret that anyone might have been offended, that was never our intent."

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