The 14-hour Diaper Claim Paradox and Hara-kiri (Seppuku)

Several years ago I posted a brief note in my Disposable Diaper Network group to warn our industry about the strategic marketing mistake that took place when a large multinational company started to differentiate themselves by claiming that their diapers where guaranteed to stay dry for an extended time.  They added a text and a clock logo printed on their diaper bags claiming a 12 hour "bottoms dry" guarantee. At the very start, most parents did not really believe the claim was true, just a marketing exaggeration, and continued with the same old habits. The frequency of diaper changes did not change, at least not enough to be noticed by scan data.  As expected, most competitors started to use the same exact claim.  I don′t think they really had a choice, they were basically forced to do it. Not claiming the same diaper usage duration, meant the performance of their brands would be perceived as being inferior to the national brand on the eyes of any potential buyer.  

Today you will find this 12-hour claim in every market, from mature to emerging, and almost in all market tiers, from supreme to economy (which is hard to believe in any lower tier product).  After years of promoting the same claim and millions of dollars spent in publicity in TV and social media, insisting again and again on this silly extended claim, the only tangible result has been a slow reduction in the amount of diapers changed every day, and a clear increase in diaper rash cream sales.   Most infant day care facilities continued with the same policy, asking for a certain number of diapers each day (for example 6 each day), but this was more of a concern of reducing the liability of sending back a baby to their parents with a new diaper rash problem, more than anything else.  Some mothers started to question day care centers why do they needed that many changes if the diaper is made to last much longer. Some, with the exception of all the high end day care centers, reconsidered the number.  At home, it was a different story. Parents started to use less diapers every day.

I do not argue with the possibility for top performance diapers to be able to hold their ground in the sense that they will not leak on this extended period of time, at least not to a certain high probability level (like 98%), the real problem is when we try to validate if this is a good healthy claim in terms of the user, a baby or an adult bedridden incontinent. 

A few weeks ago a young mother contacted me to share a radical business idea.  She had found my name by googling “diaper industry consultants”. After looking at my profile and confirming that I was in fact well connected, she thought I was the perfect man for the job. She wanted to know if I was willing to help her find a fancy laboratory or medical center that could certify that the urine trapped in a diaper after 12 hours was not really a safe environment if it ended up touching the skin of a baby. She also wanted to validate that a usage pattern of 12 continuous hours without a diaper change, independently of how many hours it had been insulted with baby`s urine, was not such a great idea. In any case, it only showed the lack of concern for the baby.  

If this could be scientifically proved, then she would take this evidence to a large law firm and hire them to start suing diaper manufacturers everywhere, starting with the large multinationals, at least until they were all forced to write a large disclaimer text, something similar to tobacco companies having to warn consumers about the risk to smoke and the effects this may have on your health. If you want to smoke, it is your problem and it is fine, specially if I already told you about the risks, something on those same FTC guidelines.

As you can imagine, for someone like me, who has been taking the role of defending as much as possible our industry, this was an unimaginable request, something I will never accept.  Of course, I did my best to convince her that this was a terrible idea, that there are much better ways to make money. A good positive karma is always better than forcing any karma in a violent way, like abusing our legal system just to get money in return.  If she really wanted to promote an ethical change to improve the skin health of babies and seniors, that there are better ways to do it. 

Based on the fact that she did not pursue this idea, I have not seen such a lawsuit, I believe I succeeded (at least for a while).  On the other hand, I have to say she had a valid point.  This is why I am sharing this story with all of you. 

We have centered the whole diaper discussion in the convenience of the parents and the nurses, so much that we may have lost track of who is really our client.  If you ask my opinion today, I am totally against this nonsense, it will be crazy moving in the direction of a 14-hour or a 16-hour guarantee, not 12, not even 10!   

Education is the best tool to improve the skin and the quality of life of our consumers. A long usage guarantee has only the guarantee of increased diaper rash cream sales, at least until the possibility of an action class suit.