Friends Adult Pants Unveils New Campaign on the Silent Struggle of Incontinence Among Middle-Aged Women
CE DESK 
Nobel Hygiene Limited’s adult diaper brand, Friends, has launched a new television commercial (TVC) that reframes the conversation around adult incontinence among middle-aged women. Moving beyond the familiar narrative of destigmatising incontinence itself, the campaign zeroes in on a more immediate barrier to category adoption: hesitation of first-time trials.
In India, one in three women above the age of 45 lives with chronic urinary incontinence, often in silence, quietly restructuring her life around the condition rather than seeking a solution – from limiting where she goes and how long she stays out to changing what she wears and even who she meets. Over time, this takes a toll on their physical, mental and social well-being, shaping everyday choices in ways that go largely unspoken.
Incontinence carries its own stigma, but adult diapers introduce a second, less obvious barrier. Widely perceived as products for the elderly or bedridden, they can trigger embarrassment and hesitation among middle-aged women who don’t identify with that image. Concerns on whether the product will reliably prevent leakage, and discretion, compounded by deeply ingrained stigma, continue to distance them from the product.
Commenting on the campaign, Kartik Kamal Johari, Chief Marketing & Growth Officer, Nobel Hygiene Limited, said: “With women accounting for nearly 70% of chronic urinary incontinence sufferers in India, which is an estimated 14 million middle-aged women. This is too large and too underserved an audience to overlook. Urinary incontinence quietly influences how women navigate everyday life at different stages. While conversations around the condition itself are opening up, the stigma attached to adult diapers remains a significant barrier to adoption. Our focus with this campaign is to reposition adult diapers as a practicalenabler, one that lets women travel, socialise and stay active with confidence by building trust in both the product and its performance.”
Conceptualised by Sideways, the TVC tells the story of a middle-aged woman preparing to travel with friends. On their recommendation, she agrees to try an adult diaper for the first time before the trip but despite their reassurance, she remains apprehensive about whether it will hold up when she needs it most. Her hesitation captures a familiar first-time-user concern: whether the product can be trusted to manage sudden, involuntary leakage once she steps outside the comfort of home.
Speaking on the campaign, Abhijit Avasthi, Founder, Sideways, said, “We wanted to approach a sensitive category through a moment that feels positive, familiar, and human. At the heart of the campaign is a simple idea: with friends, you feel more reassured. From there, it was about seamlessly integrating this idea with the product.”
Trust plays two roles. First, in the advice of loved ones, and, ultimately, trust in the product’s performance. The new tagline, “Bharose wali Dosti,” captures the shift by positioning “Trust” as the bridge between the reassurance of loved ones and confidence in the product.
The campaign also promotes occasion-based travel alongside everyday usage among middle-aged women, positioning adult diapers as lifestyle-enabling products that support dignity, independence and mobility, rather than a marker of age or dependency. Friends Adult Dry Pants, as the category creator and leader, continues to drive awareness and adoption within this underpenetrated segment.
About Nobel Hygiene Limited:
Nobel Hygiene Limited is India’s largest home-grown branded manufacturer of absorbent hygiene products by value in Fiscal 2026. Founded in 2001, it pioneered India’s adult absorbent hygiene segment and now serves adult, baby and feminine hygiene needs. Its key brands include Friends, India’s largest adult absorbent hygiene brand by value; Teddyy, the largest home-grown baby diaper brand; Snuggy, one of India’s oldest home-grown baby diaper brands; and RIO, focused on heavy-flow menstrual products and disposable period panties. With integrated manufacturing in Nashik and Halol, the company runs a pan-India omni-channel network spanning e-commerce, quick commerce and institutional sales, and exports to 19 countries.
