8.05.2009

I said I was done, but I guess I am back for more

OK, you know it, I have slight twinges of hippie – shocker. And I am going back to a topic I thought I would never touch again on this blog… diapers.

Why am I doing it again, because I think when studies are done and presented surrounded by ads of one of the key beneficiaries, I just don’t like it. Even as a marketer.

What am I talking about? A WebMD piece that claims to be solving the diaper dilemma, but did they?

The biggest issue I have with the piece is that it does what other industry sponsored pieces have done – hype up disposable advantages (in this case diaper rash and day care usage) and basically poo poo’s (heh) any advantage gained in using cloth.

The article, or center, is funded by Huggies. According to WebMD center funding means:

Content under this heading is funded by a third-party and independently created or chosen by WebMD. This content is subject to the WebMD editorial review process for accuracy, balance and objectivity. The content is not edited or otherwise influenced by the supporting company except with the possible suggestion of the broad topic area. For more information, read the WebMD sponsor policy.

OK, I can be cool with that – you say it is balanced and objective by your editorial review – but it is funded by a third party – in this case one of the big winners in the piece. :/

Now since it is WebMD of course they don’t want to touch on the financial differences in choosing cloth vs. disposable – I can look past that. But the fact still remains that this cannot be seen as objective analysis the way it is presented.

On the topic of diaper rash, the winner for disposables, only one pediatrician is quoted? Where is the actual data to back this? That is what people want, not just opinion. In the end it may be true, but at least be fair in the assessment. I know from the experience when our first born was in diapers – he came home from day care with diaper rash often. He wore disposables. Does this make it fact that kids who use disposables and go to daycare will get diaper rash? No, obviously. So I won’t try to make people believe that, if I had scientific fact to back it then I would.

But this is not even my main point – my point is this information is pushed out as fact because there are big bucks supporting it. If WebMD had published this piece without tying Huggies name to it I might have given it more credit – but they didn’t, so I can’t.

Like I said in an early post on this topic, and to its credit the article does too… this choice is really up to the parent. People have different lifestyles, different values and different views. This is a good thing – but if we do want to make a choice and want to research it first it would be nice to have noncommercial examples to help inform us.

Really, I think this will be my last diaper post ever (until I get another bug up my butt that is.)

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