Frida Baby Under Fire: The Sexual Marketing Scandal That's Dividing Parents Online

On Wednesday evening, an X user named @staystaystace posted screenshots of baby product packaging and old social media posts. The images showed phrases like "I get turned on quickly" printed on a thermometer box and "How about a quickie" on another product. Within hours, the post had millions of views. The target was Frida Baby, a company best known for the NoseFrida nasal aspirator that parents sometimes call "the snot sucker."

The storm began after users dug up old ads and packaging loaded with sexual innuendos tied to products meant for infants. The viral X post shared screenshots of captions like "This is the closest your husband's gonna get to a threesome" alongside a photo of their 3-in-1 rectal thermometer.

What the Packaging Actually Says

The company's packaging includes suggestive phrases like "I get turned on quickly" and "How about a quickie." Archived Instagram captions from 2020 and 2021 reportedly included terms such as "threesome" and "lube."

On Reddit, a thread in r/NewParents titled "Boycott Frida Baby" laid out more examples, including "just the tip" for a nose and ear picker tool. The poster urged everyone to ditch the products and report the company everywhere. Comments poured in, with some parents swearing off the brand for good, saying sexual jokes have no place around baby items.

The reaction was swift. Parents called the marketing "sick and twisted." Others weren't so sure. Some admitted the stuff creeped them out but defended it as harmless dad humor aimed at exhausted adults.

"People alter things for rage bait and views, and so far Frida has been pretty alright. Facebook (and to some extent, IG) is generally a cesspool for mis- and disinformation."

That was one Reddit user's take, expressing skepticism about whether the screenshots were authentic. But another user verified the claims by checking Walmart Canada's website. They found product photos in the reviews that confirmed the packaging language was real.

The Company Goes Quiet

Things heated up when users noticed Frida Baby seemingly going quiet and cleaning house. Multiple posts on X claimed the company started deleting old tweets and Instagram content.

As criticism intensified, some users identified current team members listed on the company's website, including director of packaging Brian Byrd, vice-president of marketing strategy Adam Gagliardo, and package design production manager Aaron Camello. Hours later, the team page was reportedly removed from the site.

Users have also alleged that negative comments are being deleted from the brand's Instagram account. As of Thursday afternoon, the baby brand had not responded to the controversy.

Who Is Behind Frida Baby?

Chelsea Hirschhorn is the CEO and founder of Fridababy. She founded the company in 2014. As a mother of four, her struggles with postpartum and motherhood led her to work on a brand that focuses on mothers and babycare.

In law school she did a stint with the New York Mets. Then she was a bankruptcy attorney during the recession. After that, she moved to south Florida and landed a gig with the Miami Marlins. One night in 2013, while Hirschhorn was pregnant with her first child, a neighbor told her about a product she was importing from Sweden, the NoseFrida.

The company has grown substantially since then. Today the brand is available in 40,000 stores throughout the US. Frida has raised $23.3 million in funding. The company's estimated annual revenue is currently $68.2 million per year and the company has 247 employees.

A History of Pushing Boundaries

This isn't the first time Frida has attracted controversy for its marketing approach. The company has built its brand on being frank about the messy realities of parenting.

Earlier advertising moments were controversial, especially a 60-second TV spot for disposable postpartum underwear slated to run during the 2020 Oscars that wound up rejected by ABC for being "too graphic."

The company has been prohibited from using the word "vagina" on billboards and was blocked by ABC from running an ad during the Oscars depicting a woman's postpartum recovery.

Frida has also broken barriers with campaigns that have made history, including airing the first-ever ad showing a lactating woman at the Golden Globes.

The question now is whether parents will view the suggestive packaging language as part of that same irreverent spirit, or as something fundamentally different.

The Timing Problem

The backlash lines up with broader conversations around child safety online. Some observers argue this context makes the marketing look worse than it might have seemed years ago. Others point out the jokes were always there, published publicly on product boxes sold at Target and Walmart.

Where This Goes Next

Whether Frida Baby rides this out or makes changes remains to be seen, but right now, trust took a serious hit.

A chunk of commenters push back, saying the jokes target grown-ups dealing with poop and boogers all day. One Reddit user noted these slogans have been around forever without much fuss until a TikTok made it explode.

The company's silence is the most notable development so far. Frida has spent a decade building a reputation for saying the unsaid things about parenting. Now they're saying nothing at all.

As of now, the brand hasn't put out any official statement on the drama. Their website's about page just calls their products "fussbusters" without naming anyone.

Whether this becomes a permanent stain on the brand or blows over by next week will likely depend on two things: how Frida responds when they finally break their silence, and whether major retailers like Target decide the products still belong on their shelves. The coming days should provide answers to both.