The luxury diaper that killed the luxury diaper tax.
Nonprofit Baby2Baby came to us with a problem. 1 in 3 moms struggle to afford diapers. This is in part due to a little-known injustice buried deep within our tax law. In several states diapers are taxed as a luxury item, despite being an essential good.
We know first hand that there's nothing luxurious about changing a diaper. So to challenge this absurd luxury tax, we created something just as absurd: A luxury diaper.
We called it Diapér. Lined with virgin alpaca wool, infused with lavender and bergamot, fastened with amber gemstones, and priced at $120 for a pack of 12, it launched with the only brand that could make it seem real. Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness brand Goop.
Their reputation for releasing controversial luxury products meant that only a single Instagram post was needed to spark mass outrage. Seven hours later, Gwenyth herself revealed the truth:
That it was designed to piss you off. Because if treating diapers like a luxury makes you mad, so should taxing diapers like a luxury.
With a $0 media spend, the state tax law no one knew about became a trending topic, earning 150+ million impressions. But most importantly, in the weeks following our campaign, 4 states dropped their diaper tax, proving that the best way to take on a shitty law is to raise a stink.
