Huggies is being called out online for its recent diaper commercial, which some think will attract pedophiles. Some viewers have stated the video is “suggestive” and shows babies’ bodies at inappropriate angles. The “For All Baby Butts” commercial includes a song about babies’ butts, and part of the lyrics are, “Smushy butt. Mushy cushy tushy butt. Skinny butt. Spinning with your mini butt.”
In a viral TikTok, Maryssa (@sirenssa_m) called out the popular diaper brand, stating the commercial showed babies’ bodies inappropriately and was fodder for pedophiles. She called the brand “absolutely disgusting and calculated.”
Maryssa alleged that the people behind the ad and marketing strategy were familiar with the “psychology of social norms and human behaviors of consumerism” and filmed the video in this style to grab the attention of people who look at children inappropriately. “They’re disgusting. They knew what they were doing. They’re all grown-ups running that business.”
To people saying she was overreacting and that the grand couldn’t have had any bad intentions with the commercial, she responded the following: “You know what I have never seen, though? The angles of a child’s body the way that I have [in the commercial]. And basically, they’re thirst traps with diapers,” Maryssa said.
@sirenssa_m Huggies is marketing between the lines to predatory behavior #huggies #huggiesdiapers #tw #ptsd #trauma #mentalhealth #therapytok #pov
♬ original sound – Maryssa with a Y
She added that the only other time she’d seen bodies filmed in that way—shaking their butts, spreading their legs, and filming body parts pressed against glass—is in advertisements in which clothes are sexualized and meant to grab attention, like lingerie ads.
She likened the commercial to people who film their children to gain online influence, virality, and make money. “For that, I think you’re a bum. It’s giving broke. It’s giving monster. It’s giving gross,” Maryssa said.
The video has over a quarter of a million views on TikTok and nearly 600 comments.
“I decided to watch it and i immediately knew what you meant, really unsettling,” a commenter wrote.
The commercial has gotten some positive coverage online, including an AdWeek article that said the Huggies brand was “stoking body positivity at the earliest life stages.”
But others, like Maryssa, have pointed out in the Huggies YouTube comment section how uncomfortable the commercial made them feel and have also taken to Reddit to talk about it.
“This is definitely one of those things that creeps watch for their own sick pleasure,” a commenter wrote on the Huggies YouTube channel.
“I’ve been seeing this lately and I just get extraordinarily uncomfortable. There’s something just intensely creepy and disturbing about it,” a person wrote.
“As a parent, if I heard someone talking like this to my kid, I would immediately get my kid away from them. It blows my mind that this got approved out of marketing,” a Redditor said.
The Daily Dot reached out to Maryssa via TikTok comment and to Huggies via email.
