What were they thinking?!

Have you heard about the Huggies campaign that was shut down by families who were offended by the 1950s stereotype a recent commercial offered? Here's a link to an article I read about the campaign: http://www.examiner.com/advertising-in-richmond/angry-dads-outrage-gets-huggies-ad-campaign-pulled-from-television  and a link to a facebook page where you can watch the ad: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=3019575761858

If you haven't heard about it/seen it, this was the basis: Huggies put 5 dads in one house with their babies and gave the moms "time off" for 5 days. The "test" was to see if the Huggies diapers could stand up to "the toughest test imaginable - dads". The end of the commercial shows a woman saying, "Good luck babe". The commercial suggests that dads don't know what they are doing when it comes to caring for their young children.

99% of the comments I have read about this ad have been negative, with a vast majority of them talking about people boycotting the brand and product itself. It's amazing to me as to why they thought this campaign was a good idea?! Everything about this campaign is offensive.

I find that advertising for disposable diapers frustrate me in general. The ads that claim their diapers can cut down in the number of changes needed or will hold in moisture for 12 hours make me want to scream. I've seen studies in which a large group of parents or caregivers admit to leaving children in wet diapers for extended periods of time or for more than one wet elimination because they know their product is made to hold more. I've seen people I know do the same - cupping the crotch of their child's diaper and saying things like "oh, it can hold more - I'll wait to change him/her". I can only imagine what this is doing to the fragile skin of these poor little children, and would be willing to bet that the diaper cream industry probably makes billions every year because of this! In fact, I remember being very offended in the hospital when the nurse put Wee Man in his first diaper (yes, a disposable) and told us that they had a yellow line on the front of the diaper that would change colour when he was wet so we would know when it was time to change him. What?! Have we become that stupid as a society that we wouldn't know when to change our little ones so they have to add these types of features!?!

This latest campaign is just added to my list of why-I-hate disposable diapers!

Maybe I'm extremely lucky with a very hands-on husband?! There was never any hesitation from him when I said I wanted to cloth diaper from the very beginning. Now, I will say because we chose the pre-fold route he was a little apprehensive as it did require a couple extra steps, but a demo/training session from me before Wee Man was born seemed to be enough and he was right in there from day one changing diapers and doing all of the other parenting responsibilities that come with having a child. In fact, for the first couple of weeks I would say he may have changed more diapers than me (he went back to work when Wee Man was 10 days old and that changed slightly during the week days for obvious reasons)! Neither of us love this task - especially now as we're potty training Wee Man and are dealing with cloth training pants that don't have an easy-access side open, so soiled undies are especially tricky to get off without mess! But we both do it, because we are parents - in this together - and dedicated in caring for our son in the best way we know how.
     My husband changes diapers, gives baths, clothes, feeds and cares for Wee Man in every way needed. He does laundry, cleans bathrooms, cooks and participates in all aspects of caring for our home as well. This is the norm - we chose to parent together and both take equal responsibility for all of the tasks in our home. There is no "helping" by my husband - he just does it. I hate that word. We learn and experience it all together.

Are there really still dads out there that choose not to change diapers and that are that clueless in the parenting of their children?! I honestly don't think one of my friends has this type of a husband - in fact many of them will be the first to get up and go change the little ones' diapers when we're visiting or out and about together. Walking through the malls or along the paths outside I see dads pushing strollers, carrying their children or baby wearing every day. I know people who have stay-at-home-dad headed households. Who is it that these ads are trying to cater to?! I get it that they were trying to use humour with this ad campaign but this has obviously not worked. No one is laughing.

So I'm curious to hear what you think about this advertising campaign? Did you find it humorous or offensive - or something in between?