What We Learned from the Pampers Boycott

Posted on 14. May, 2010 by Brian Reid in Uncategorized, diapers

My mini-obsession with bringing down Pampers this week has taken away from the usual dad-centric programming that you all know and love, so I’m shelving the boycott posts for now (don’t get me wrong: I’m still boycotting. I’m just not going to continually post on it). But I did garner three insights this week that I think are worth sharing:

You guys are awesome. Scores of you “liked” Pampers posts. A handful of you linked to me. And more than a dozen tweets — reaching nearly 10,000 — ended up with the #pampersboycott hashtag. Nicely done, folks.
Proctor & Gamble doesn’t care. According to Ad Age, P&G has four people whose job it is to monitor for online chatter as part of their public-relations rapid-response effort. Now, maybe we’re not big enough fish for them to worry about. Maybe complaints about gender-specific advertising are seen as silly. Maybe they’re working 24/7 to deal with the (admittedly) bigger PR problem around chemical burns. Whatever the reason, I haven’t heard a peep out of P&G. Not that I expected to.
A lot of you are massively brand loyal to your diapers. Reading through tweets, comments and my e-mail, there are plenty of you who would boycott Pampers in a second … if you didn’t think that they were the only brand that works for your kid. Funny how that works. We were that way until kid #2, when we switched to generic diapers and never looked back.

Please know that even if I’m not posting on this, I’m still down with the cause. How down with the cause am I? In addition to refusing to buy Pampers, I am extending my boycott to hit P&G where it really hurts: I will no longer buy LashBlast mascara. And to show I’m serious, I’m also going to stop watching romantic comedies starring LashBlast spokesperson Drew Barrymore. Maybe Drew can amp up the pressure on those guys in Cincinatti.

All this because Pampers doesn’t believe that dads do diapers.

7 Responses to “What We Learned from the Pampers Boycott”

Chris Routly (Daddy Doctrines)

14. May, 2010

I said in the post about this on my blog that we’d join the protest if it were not that Pampers have been working best for our son, but after talking it over with my wife we’re actually going to return the big unopened box of Pampers we got at BJ’s last week and swap if for their generic brand.

Fight the power AND save money? We’re in!
Philip (RAOP)

14. May, 2010

Brian, you are great. I have a feeling that your last paragraph is a lot like me saying I am no longer going to eat at McDonald. I can’t actually remember the last time I was in one.

I agree with your cause - Dads do diapers, and much more. I also enjoy the humor! Lead on!!!!
DC Urban Dad

14. May, 2010

Now rashes and burns because of a product is a reason I can get behind to boycott.
Canadad

03. Jun, 2010

Thanks again for leading the Pampers boycott. I was out for a Pints for Pops evening and relayed the story as it unfolded in cyberspace. They were pretty interested. The boycott got some new followers.

I was all for it, except we were in the camp of “pampers work best”. Until our doctor suggested we switch. While they were great at stopping leaks, the little man had a bit of a rash. He’d had it for a while and since he has excezema elsewhere, we chalked it up to that.

However, one day out of the Pampers and the rash was gone. So too are the Pampers.

The new brand, apart from not injuring our child, actually is easier to put on, is better at stopping leaks and keeping at him dry.

Thank you for turning us onto the Pampers Boycott.

Cheers
BloggerFather

05. Jun, 2010

Hey, in case you haven’t seen my latest post, it mentions you there a few times in the post and in the comments. A lot of people commented, so you might find it interesting. Or not. http://www.bloggerfather.com/2010/05/i-will-not-buy-pampers-diapers-anymore.html

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