If you have an internet connection, you may have seen Gwyneth Paltrow’s celebrity lifestyle thing GOOP post about “The Diapér” — a new luxury diaper “lined with virgin alpaca wool and fastened with amber gemstones, known for their ancient emotional-cleansing properties …infused with a scent of jasmine and bergamot for a revitalized baby.” The internet obviously had a heyday — this one was a stretch even by GOOP standards — before Paltrow dropped the act. It was a PR stunt raising awareness about the high and climbing cost of providing babies with basic needs in the U.S.
“Goop launched a luxury disposable diaper at $120 for a pack of 12 and there was a lot of outrage. Good,” Paltrow said in a video posted Thursday. “It was designed to piss us off. Because if treating diapers like a luxury makes you mad, so should taxing them like a luxury.”
Paltrow called attention to the cost of diapers and the infant formula shortage currently plaguing the country. Across the U.S., many mothers are unable to find formula for their babies, leading them to either pay outrageous fees for online shipping or stretch the formula they have, depriving their infants of necessary nutrients.
“Despite the absolute necessity of diapers, in 33 states, they aren’t treated as an essential item. They’re taxed as a luxury good. (We priced our fictional Diapérs at $120, because that is what the diaper tax could cost families annually),” Paltrow’s caption read. “Right now, many families in need are also struggling as a result of the nationwide formula shortage.”
She asked her followers to donate to Baby2Baby “to help provide diapers, formula, and other essentials to families in need.”
