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Popular baby care brand FridaBaby is currently under fire after old ads and packaging resurfaced on social media.
Perturbed parents are claiming that the company crossed a line with sexual tones on their products designed for infants — and some are even calling for a boycott.
“Sexual jokes to market baby products is actually sick and twisted,” one person wrote on X. “This is absolutely appalling and disgusting.”
One screenshot in the post features Frida’s 3-in-1 True Temp thermometer that has an illustration of the device alongside a baby’s bare bottom on the box. Frida’s caption read, “This is the closest your husband’s gonna get to a threesome.”
Another showed the brand’s 3-in-1 Ear, Forehead + Touchless Thermometer with the phrase “How about a quickie?” directly on the packaging.
The third image showed instructions for the brand’s humidifier, which was titled, “I get turned on easily.” And a fourth photo showed a box that said “I’m a [power] sucker.”
The post went viral, with 4.1 million views at the time of reporting, and other parents started to bring back old examples of the brand’s language that they found inappropriate.
One person posted a grainy and blurry screenshot of an apparent social media post that is no longer on the brand’s page from April 2020 that shows a photo of a baby with nasal discharge and a caption that reads, “What happens when you pull out too early #nosefrida #dontmove.”
Lila Rose, president and founder of the anti-abortion nonprofit Live Action, responded to the post, writing, “Unbelievably sick @fridababy sexualizing babies. Boycott!”
Users on the Reddit forum r/NewParents are also calling for a brand boycott.
“Aside from their innuendos written on the side of their packaging…these types of statements are disturbing and the company needs to be banished,” one person wrote. “I hope you will do your part in boycotting this company and reporting them on all social platforms.”
“What is wrong with the world? Have we really gotten to the point where we will post and promote anything for money?” someone on Facebook asked.
“Seeing what the Frida company is pushing now is honestly disappointing. As moms, we deserve better than companies constantly trying to push boundaries just to get attention or sales. Some things just don’t need to be normalized or marketed. This is completely inappropriate.”
Another wrote that people who think that this is “silly and funny need to be watched.”
“I’m a man with no kids, but even I thought that was a bizarre way to market your products,” another user noted.
However, not everyone is in favor of a boycott. Many users said that they have never seen any packaging with sexual innuendos, questioning if the content could have been altered or generated for engagement.
“Wait, really? We own Frida products and none of the packaging implies anything sexual. I never saw an ad before. Could it be fake?” one asked.
“I can’t actually find any of these adverts anywhere official except on outraged videos/posts on social media. Really makes me wonder if it’s manufactured fakery for engagement. Not that uncommon to see anymore,” another wrote.
Someone shared that they’ve only seen one of the phrases being shared online in real life: “The only one I know to be true that’s been mentioned in this thread is ‘tap that gas’ on the windi. But… that’s what you’re doing, and it’s a mildly cheeky play on words.”
Others maintained that while they, of course, disagree with sexualizing children, they don’t find the language to be too horrible.
“If this is legit, then I’d like to give them a chance to respond. No one should be sexualizing babies, but this was most likely poorly thought-up advertising copy trying to make sleep-deprived new parents laugh,” someone said.
“I love the product packaging (can’t speak to the ads). Here’s why: When you have a baby, so much of your identity gets absorbed into caregiving…Those jokes feel like a wink to the adult version of myself – like I didn’t completely disappear into motherhood,” one person shared.
“Adult humor cuts through the chaos and makes it feel way more survivable instead of dehumanizing. Reality is, I am about to stick a lubricated tube up my baby’s butt to release farts and probably a fountain of feces. I welcome anything to give me a giggle,” they continued.
“IMO, this is akin to Disney putting in jokes that only parents will get. They know who the decision-makers are. Frida is marketing to the parents. I don’t interpret it as sexualizing a baby at all — to me, it’s just adult humor aimed at exhausted parents. But I get that humor like that is a taste thing.”
