What We Learned from the Pampers Boycott
Posted on 14. May, 2010 by Brian Reid.
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.
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Huggies Proves You *Can* Sell Diapers with Dads
Posted on 13. May, 2010 by Brian Reid.
I’ll admit it: I get perverse joy in needling Proctor & Gamble for their one-size-fits-all Mother’s Day message last week and their dad-on-the-couch coupon mailer earlier this week. But the comeback I get when I raise this issue in mixed company is standard: Pampers markets to mom because that’s who buys diapers in the real world. And while dads might be making strides, it’s still pretty good business to stay mom-centric. And it’s not like P&G are a bunch of consumer product know-nothings. You know what Pampers sales were in 2009? Go ahead, guess.
$8 billion. That’s billion, with a “B.” Remember Avatar’s ungodly growth? Pampers makes nearly three times as much. Every year. So I have sympathy for the “good-business” argument.
Here’s the problem: the fine folks at Kimberly-Clark, which makes Huggies, also know a thing or two about selling billions worth of diapers. And they’ve had no trouble at all making ads with dads. In fact, Huggies may be doing the best dad-focused advertising out there. Take a look:
So if Huggies can do it, why not Pampers. Just sayin’. (And, tweeps, stay strong in your #pampersboycott.)
Update: Just realized that Dad Camp had me beat here by a couple of months. So a belated hat tip to them! Great minds, etc.)
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You, Too, Can Join the Pampers Boycott Brigade
Posted on 13. May, 2010 by Brian Reid.
You know, it’s all well and good that I’m having fun poking fun at Pampers, but I want to let you all get into the game as well. If you’re on Twitter, look at the box below, edit as you see fit, and click “Tweet.” We will be heard.
If you’re not on Twitter, this is as good a reason as any to make the leap, right?
As the wine cooler guys used to say: thank you for your support.