MILWAUKEE -- A federal court in Milwaukee has denied a request by Procter & Gamble Co. to stop the "brick baby" ad campaign for Huggies disposable diapers.
The Cincinnati-based maker of Pampers and Luvs diapers filed the lawsuit this week against Kimberly-Clark Corp., which uses Neenah, Wis., as its principal place of business.
The lawsuit sought an injunction against Kimberly-Clark's Huggies campaign, contending that, in touting the hourglass shape of its diapers, the company was unfairly disparaging other diapers, including Pampers and Luvs. The Huggies ads suggest that other leading diapers are rectangular and better suited to bricks than to babies' bottoms.
A TV commercial for the Huggies shows two moms -- one with a toddler, one with a brick -- playing at a park. The mom with the brick applauds as the brick zooms down the slide and lands with a thud and a cloud of dust at the bottom.
The scene cuts to the brick's mom putting the brick on a purple diaper labeled "other leading diapers," next to an hourglass-shaped Huggies, which the other mom picks up to fit onto her toddler.
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"New Huggies Natural Fit are shaped for babies of the human variety," a female narrator says.
"We are disappointed in the ruling because we think the current advertising is not fair or accurate, and we don't think it serves consumers well," said Lisa Jester, a spokeswoman for Procter & Gamble. "We are reviewing all of our options."
According to court filings, Procter & Gamble has 43 percent of the sales market for diapers, and Kimberly-Clark 41 percent.
