Padded53 wrote:
NorthShoreAdam wrote:
If you're in the checkout line at the grocery store with a bag of Depend Underwear or Depend Briefs...does that really put you at ease that your incontinence will remain private? I don't think so as everyone knows Depend is adult diapers. I'm hearing a little of both sides as to whether or not having Briefs or Underwear on the bags themselves is actually helpful to people's own ego and pride. if it helps people not be as timid at starting to use them or feel as "old" when using them, then I'm all for keeping "Briefs" and "Underwear" on the package instead of "Diapers" and "Pullups".
Adam: Your statement really brings up a very interesting psychological point. When someone puts a bag of Depends up on the checkout counter pretty much everybody that sees them will instantly
think "Diapers!", but out loud (and on TV) everyone will say Depends/briefs/underwear. Why, I think it's that deeply ingrained stigma in virtually everyones mind about the word Diaper. It's funny that what people think, and what they will actually say, can be two different things. That's why even though everyone knows what they are it's more politically correct, and less of an impact to the purchaser's ego, to print on the package something like pull-up or tape-up brief rather than that "awful" word. Hey, marking the packages and writing the advertisements this way might eliminate all of that hate mail you get too.
It certainly would eliminate the hate-email if we never used the word diapers anywhere. But we know for sure that will make it very difficult for people to find our products and also won't help people looking for diapers for the 1st time to figure out difference between briefs and underwear. Almost all people searching about this for the first time, search for "adult diapers" or "Adult pullups" or some combination of those words. We really want to help people find the products they need even easier and not confuse them more than they already are. It's really hard to shop with the euphemisms in the way. Then, many people pick the wrong style and get very frustrated and decide to give up and just "cope" without absorbent products for much longer.
The second question I have about never using "diapers" is...doesn't that just further reinforce the unnecessary stereotypes that "diapers are just for babies" and "diapers are dirty,..." and "it's degrading to talk about someone needing diapers". My view is that while it's nobody's business what underwear we all wear, it would greatly reduce the overall anxiety and stigma with dealing with incontinence if doctors and nurses and friends and family did not have these stereotypes and could say to someone that is coping, "So what, diapers are just underwear and their not just for babies...almost everyone needs some help at some point or another." We haven't made any progress in the last 30 years with getting people to seek medical advice about incontinence by keeping it a secret that many need diapers, so we do need to find something to do differently so we don't have so many millions of people staying at home or altering their life to stay near a bathroom.