Pull-Ups

Pull-Ups is Kimberly-Clark’s toddler training-pants brand, marketed primarily through the Huggies franchise in North America. The product was introduced in 1989 to address the transition between conventional diapers and underwear. Its defining format is a pull-on disposable pant that can be worn more like underwear than a taped diaper, while retaining absorbent protection for accidents during toilet training. The brand’s core consumer is a toddler and the parent or caregiver guiding the toilet-training process. Pull-Ups has historically used child-oriented graphics, character designs, and messages about growing independence to make the transition feel like a positive developmental milestone. Product communication has also emphasized practical features such as stretchable sides, pull-on and pull-off convenience, absorbency, and designs intended for daytime or overnight use. Availability, naming, and product configurations vary by market. Pull-Ups’ marketing has developed from functional demonstrations of training-pant benefits toward broader emotional and behavioral support. Campaigns have encouraged parents to make toilet training more engaging through songs, routines, milestone celebrations, digital tools, and interactive prompts. The long-running “I’m a big kid now” brand platform associates the product with confidence and progress rather than simply leakage protection. In 2009, the brand promoted the “Potty Dance,” a participatory routine supported by television, print, web, social, and live-event activity. In 2013, a “First Flush” campaign framed a toddler’s first successful toilet flush as an occasion worthy of celebration. Later activity used mobile messaging and character-based encouragement to provide children with personalized congratulations during the training process. By late 2024, Pull-Ups described a marketing relaunch designed to portray toilet training more realistically. Leo Burnett introduced animated characters representing bodily functions and the less polished aspects of the experience, while retaining the brand’s recognizable jingle. The stated strategic shift moved away from presenting potty training as uniformly “fun, fast, and easy” and toward honesty, empathy, and building a child’s confidence. The campaign targeted newer generations of parents across television, connected television, online video, retail media, audio, and social platforms. Pull-Ups remains positioned as a mainstream, trusted consumer-staples brand within Kimberly-Clark’s baby and child-care portfolio. It competes in the training-pants category with products including Pampers Easy Ups and other private-label and regional alternatives. No separate public financial reporting for Pull-Ups is identified here; the brand’s ownership and public-market association derive from Kimberly-Clark and its New York Stock Exchange ticker KMB.

Pull-Ups was introduced by Kimberly-Clark in 1989 as a disposable training pant for toddlers moving from diapers toward underwear. The innovation addressed a practical gap in the category: children could step into and out of the garment more independently, while caregivers still received disposable absorbency and protection against accidents. The format also gave marketers a way to frame toilet training as a developmental transition rather than merely a change in diaper size. The brand became associated with the Huggies portfolio in North America and developed a visual and verbal identity centered on growing up, independence, and “big kid” confidence. Its communications commonly used colorful graphics and child-friendly designs to make the product attractive to toddlers, while explaining convenience and protection to parents. Daytime training pants formed the central offering, with overnight products addressing accidents that continue after daytime progress. During the 2000s, Pull-Ups increasingly treated toilet training as an experience requiring guidance and encouragement, not only a product purchase. A mobile program allowed caregivers to request potty-training materials and arrange scheduled character calls that congratulated children. In 2009, the brand introduced the Potty Dance, using a repeatable routine to create a ritual around toilet training. The initiative extended across television, web, print, interactive media, and an event featuring Tori Spelling. In 2013, Pull-Ups developed the First Flush campaign, built around the idea that a child’s first successful flush could receive the same celebratory treatment as other childhood milestones. The campaign used television, print, digital advertising, a mobile application, and Spanish-language activity. Its strategic purpose was to reduce parental reluctance toward toilet training and encourage families to approach the process with more enthusiasm. By 2024, the brand was reassessing the tone of its communications for millennial and Generation Z parents. A relaunch led by Leo Burnett introduced Terd, an anthropomorphic pile of excrement, and Yureen, a droplet-shaped urine character. Rather than presenting every training attempt as effortless, the work acknowledged mess, uncertainty, and the emotional challenges faced by children and caregivers. The campaign retained the “I’m a big kid now” jingle while distributing the work through linear and connected television, online video, retail media, audio, and social platforms including Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest. Pull-Ups continues as an active Kimberly-Clark brand in the baby-care and personal-care market. Its competitive environment includes Pampers Easy Ups, store brands, and other regional training-pants products. Separate revenue, profit, and market-share figures for Pull-Ups are not established in the supplied sources.

• 2024

  Marketing relaunch with animated characters

  [4]Marketing Dive: Pull-Ups animates potty-training reality to reach millennial and Gen Z parentsmarketingdive.com

  Pull-Ups relaunched its marketing with Terd and Yureen, using humor and realism to depict the challenges of potty training.

• 2013

  First Flush campaign

  [2]The New York Times: Honoring the First Flush With Parades and Pull-Upsnytimes.com

  The brand promoted a child’s first successful toilet flush as a milestone to celebrate.

• 2009

  Potty Dance campaign

  [3]MediaPost: Pull-Ups Brand Introduces Potty Dancemediapost.com

  Pull-Ups introduced the Potty Dance as a routine and promotional platform intended to make toilet training more participatory.

• 1989

  Brand introduced

  [1]Pull-Ups official websitepull-ups.com

  Kimberly-Clark introduced Pull-Ups as a disposable training-pants product for toddlers transitioning from diapers to underwear.

Mainstream, trusted training-pants brand focused on toddler independence, caregiver convenience, and confidence during toilet training.

• Toddler training pants · 1989

  Pull-Ups Training Pants

  The brand’s core disposable training-pants line, designed for toddlers practicing toilet use. A pull-on construction provides an underwear-like format, while absorbent materials help manage accidents. Graphics and sizing are intended to support the transition from diapers toward regular underwear. Specific features and licensed designs differ by market and product generation.

• Overnight training pants

  Pull-Ups Night*Time Training Pants

  An overnight-oriented extension for children who are progressing with daytime toilet training but may still experience nighttime wetting. The product is positioned around additional protection during sleep and complements the daytime training-pants range. Availability and exact product specifications vary by market.

• 2024Terd and Yureen marketing relaunch

  United States · Canada

  Leo Burnett created a 360-degree campaign featuring Terd and Yureen, animated characters representing the messy and unpredictable sides of toilet training. The work ran across television, connected television, online video, retail media, audio, and social platforms.

  Outcome. Kimberly-Clark presented the relaunch as a shift toward honesty and empathy for millennial and Generation Z parents, while preserving the brand’s established “I’m a big kid now” jingle.

  Source
• 2013First Flush

  United States

  The campaign used parades and celebratory imagery around a toddler’s first successful flush, seeking to give toilet training the emotional importance of other childhood milestones.

  Outcome. The campaign positioned Pull-Ups as a facilitator of positive family milestones and made parental encouragement central to the brand message.

  Source
• 2009Potty Dance

  United States

  Pull-Ups promoted a named dance and song as a repeatable ritual for children and caregivers. The program combined television, web, print, interactive elements, social activity, and a New York launch event, with Tori Spelling participating in the promotional effort.

  Outcome. The campaign broadened Pull-Ups communication from product attributes toward active participation in the toilet-training process.

  Source

• 2024

  Shift toward realistic and empathetic potty-training communicationStrategy

  Background

  Kimberly-Clark said that idealized portrayals of toilet training did not fully reflect the difficulties experienced by children and caregivers, particularly for newer generations of parents.

  Action taken

  Pull-Ups relaunched its marketing with humorous animated characters and messaging that acknowledged setbacks while presenting the product as a confidence-building tool.

  Aftermath

  The new approach expanded the campaign across television, digital video, retail media, audio, and social channels, while retaining the long-running brand jingle.

  Source

1. 1Pull-Ups official websitepull-ups.com
2. 2The New York Times: Honoring the First Flush With Parades and Pull-Upsnytimes.com
3. 3MediaPost: Pull-Ups Brand Introduces Potty Dancemediapost.com
4. 4Marketing Dive: Pull-Ups animates potty-training reality to reach millennial and Gen Z parentsmarketingdive.com
5. 5MediaPost: Poop and Pee Characters Star in New Pull-Ups Campaignmediapost.com