Something for the weekend: Nappy brand Huggies has launched its Huggies World Cup Paternity Leave campaign, highlighting that potential parents who conceive this month will be on parental leave during the 2026 Fifa World Cup next June.
In partnership with Gut, the organisation is encouraging parents to “grow their team” now to ensure parental leave during the tournament. It is offering six weeks’ worth of free nappies to families who do so.
The campaign stated: “You’re almost nine months away from the world’s biggest soccer tournament. So maybe it’s time to grow your team, time to add a new player, play a little extra time under the sheets. If you fill your team now, by June 2026, you’ll be lifting the greatest trophy of all: parental leave during the games.”
As well as producing a campaign poster as “The ‘official sponsor’ of baby-making overtime today, to sponsor diapers in June 2026”, Huggies also produced a 10-minute YouTube montage video of a fireplace crackling, strawberries dropping into pools of chocolate in slow motion, and candles burning. It has also compiled a ‘Do It for the Team Mix’ Spotify playlist, which includes Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye and I’ll Make Love To You by Boyz II Men.
According to the two organisations, the campaign was inspired by a UKG survey from August 2023 involving 1,154 respondents. This revealed 54% of the US workforce planned to watch the matches live, and 46% were predicted to miss work as a result.
Ricky Casal, chief creative officer of Gut Miami, said: “Huggies knows this is more than soccer’s biggest tournament, it connects people around the world and unites generations of fans. While athletes and followers prepare for their moment on the global stage, we wanted to celebrate and support the soon-to-be parents experiencing their own life-changing moment, as they welcome the next generation of fans.”
Sounds like an amusing campaign! While it is rare for babies to arrive to order, we wonder if it will work for some families…
