Like all parents of young children, I hate, hate, hate how much it costs to keep my kids in diapers. So when I opened a new pack of Huggies® I was happy to be notified I possibly had won a lifetime supply. All I had to do was fill out an online form. OK.

But the form kept going and I got to feeling they wanted more information than was appropriate. (Full disclosure, I’ve been a victim of identity theft.) Like my kids’ ages, birthdays, and names. Come on Huggies®, you’re kidding me. Right?

So I poked around for an email address. Fail again. But there’s a form, so I fill it out only to get a “do not reply”, canned email from a Huggie®. No, not Sue at Huggie®. But from a registerd trademark. Wow, I have confidence now. Let me send you my social security number too.

I’m bashing a little on Kimberly Clarke, but, really, a whole lot of companies are guilty of this kind of lack of respect for the individual. Hey, they’re giving something of value away, so they should get something, right? Some marketing data that can be used for the next direct mail piece and research for the next ad campaign or product line.

But actually they could have gotten similar data and much cheaper and frequent reach just by requiring I fan them on Facebook. And I would be using them as positive example right now. But as annoyed as I am about this, my wife will still buy those diapers. At least for another year.

Posted on: October 8, 2009, by : Jimmy Gilmore