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An Analysis of Pampers – Stinky Booty Duty Commercial

Name

University
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Abstract

Pampers leaned into a growing trend in modern society by featuring famous “new

dads” Adam Levine and John Legend in a Super Bowl Commercial. Maroon 5, Adam Levine’s

band also performed at that year’s Super Bowl. In the commercial, the “mom” makes an

appearance to the end is Chrissy Teigen, John Legends’s real-life wife. Kairos rhetoric is

observable on three levels; 1, It captures the modern cultural shift by showing “dads changing

diapers”, a role that was traditionally performed by women. To further portray the cultural

zeitgeist, the ad shows “mom” come home at the end of the commercial to find that “dad” has

already performed the duty of changing the baby’s diaper. 2, the commercial features Adam

Levine, the lead singer of the band Maroon 5 that performed in that year’s Super Bowl Halftime

Show. The chronology of events points to precision –timed casting that is meant to amplify the

marketing effort. The ad was also aired on one of the biggest commercial events of the year,

Super Bowl Sunday, the largest advertising and social media trend generating stage. In this paper

we are going to focus on the first level of kariotic rhetoric that was aimed at civic

engagement/social responsibility.
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An Analysis of the Pampers – Stinky Booty Duty Commercial

The principle of opportunity, timing - kairos serves as both a powerful theme in public

relations and an analytical concept that explains some of persuasion force by which such

disco maintains itself and its position in culture. A growing number of companies are taking

advantage of this this concept to not only market themselves but also deliver on the corporate

social responsibility front. One such example was a Pamper commercial. In February 2019,

Pampers run a marketing campaign titled Stinky Booty Duty 2.0, the company opted for a non-

traditional routes in the creating of the Super Bowl ad that was not run on television. Instead the

company went for a social and digital-only commercial featuring famous dads including Maroon

Five’s Adam Levine and John Legend singing about changing “stinky” diapers. The lyrics are a

remake of “Somebody’s got a stinky booty. Her name is Luna and she made a poopy,” that

Legend used to serenade his daughter while changing her diaper the previous year’s successful

Pamper ad. According to the company the 2019 version was meant a sequel of the 2018 ad as a

celebration of dads and the changes that parenthood brings. Sara Pasquinucci, associate director

of communications for North America at P&G stated that the objective was to use the nation’s

largest social media and advertising stage to connect with both moms and dads. The commercial

was timed to match a growing cultural theme where “dads” are increasingly carrying out

traditionally feminine duties.

Civic engagement component

In the past the decades, we have witnessed a gradual shift in gender roles in the

workplace and household. Simultaneously a new culture of tread of role-sharing in child care and
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housework has arisen (Antill & Cotton, 1988). However the trend has taken longer than expected

in gaining steam. It is only now that an ever increasing number of men are willing to proudly

partake in household duties including changing “stinky” diapers. Today nearly half of the

couples in America share childcare care equally , partly driven by the wave of intensive

parenting and the growing norm of people valuing spending more time engaging with their

children (Donner, 2020).

Pampers picked on the trend, and in their 2019 Commercial features in the Super Bowl

went with the theme of celebrating dad’s increasing role in the household. The commercial

employs effective use of Kairos rhetoric, a strategy that is all about opportunity and timing to

promote its brand. The ad utilized Kairos through precision timed casting by featuring Levine,

the lead singer of Marron 5 a band that performs at the Super Bowl Halftime show and by airing

on the biggest commercial day of the year. More importantly, it captures cultural zeitgeist by

showing famous dads changing diapers while mom is not around. In line with the larger cultural

shift. At the end of the of the commercial, Teigen walks in to find “dads” having a good time

changing diapers and asks “Must we do this every time?” which implies that the portray of dads

changing diapers is not just a fluke in the story. More importantly it captures a growing trend in

society why its common place to have dad’s changing diapers.

According to the company the ad is meant to celebrate parenting in the whole but more

specifically dad parenting. The company, therefore throws its weight behind the trend by

employing the famous dads to push the cultural shift. Pampers therefore utilizes the ad as a

corporate social responsibility (CSR) opportunity to play a role in the changing society. CSR

refers to the trend of companies giving back to society. This initiatives are visible in multiple

ways including marketing efforts such as ad campaigns (Lauren, 2019). Such campaigns are a
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delicate balance good PR, issue awareness, and branding. In many ways Pamper got it right, this

was visible on social media and blogs where delighted parents and future parents shared their

opinions. Some of the tweets include;

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Result

The media buzz generated by the event allowed the company to release a successful

commercial without releasing a TV ad. In addition to having Legend, Teigen, and Levine

promote the ad on social media, Pampers also employed the services of various dads in the NFL,

including Sterling Shepard, Alen Ramsey, Kyle Rudolf, Jamaal Charles, and Earl Thomas, who

promoted the campaign on their social channels. The result, in the first 48 hours after the release,

the commercial received over 46 million views and delivered 160 unique media placements

(Entis, 2019). The commercial was also named as one of the best ads by Forbes, The Oprah

Magazine and the BBC. On social media, various individuals and parents expressed their support

for the ad and shared their own experiences and thoughts on modern daddy parenting.
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References

Antill, J., & Cotton, S. (1988). Factors affecting the division of labor in households. Sex Roles,

18, 531-553. Entis L. (2019).

Donner F. (2020). The House-Hold Work Men and Women Do and Why? New York Times.

From; https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/us/the-household-work-men-and-women-

do-and-why.html

Pampers Smells Success With Online-Only Stinky Booty Duty 2.0 Super Bowl ad. From;

https://www.prweek.com/article/1525302/pampers-smells-success-online-only-stinky-

booty-duty-20-super-bowl-ad

Lauren (2019). 5 Example of Corporate Social Responsibility in Advertising. From:

https://getdolphins.com/blog/5-examples-of-corporate-social-responsibility-in-

advertising/