This Holiday Season, Diaper Banks Want You to Give a Shitty Gift

It’s an odd ask from a charity. This holiday season, the National Diaper Bank Network and the Diaper Bank of Toronto want you to give a shitty gift.

The shitty gift in question is diapers. No fun to unwrap and, for a lot of families, the thing standing between them and dinner.

The campaign, “Shitty Gifts,” comes from Toronto and New York creative impact agency Public Inc. It runs across social and digital in the U.S. and Canada, and the agency made it pro bono.

Dinner or diapers

According to the National Diaper Bank Network’s 2026 Diaper Check, nearly half of U.S. households with young children struggle to afford diapers. At roughly $100 per child each month, something else has to give, and often it’s food.

Close to a third of families have skipped meals to afford the diapers their baby needs. Nearly half have been unable to pay a bill like rent or utilities.

A quarter of parents facing diaper insecurity say they’ve missed work or school because they couldn’t afford the diapers needed to leave their child for the day. That leaves even less money for the basics.

The timing is deliberate. The campaign lands days after a U.S. midterm election where affordability and the cost of everyday essentials stayed front and center.

Honesty is the punchline

The spots give holiday recipients permission to do what everyone has fantasized about: skip the gracious smile and tell the gift-giver what they think. It’s the conversation every family has had in its head and never out loud.

The relief is the joke.

That candor does the heavy lifting. Once you’re laughing about the gift nobody wanted, it’s a short step to the one families need.

Why a shitty gift works

“We all know what it’s like to receive a holiday gift we don’t need. But when a parent can’t afford diapers, they can miss work, lose wages and fall even further behind,” says Phil Haid, founder and CEO of Public Inc.

“With Sh*tty Gifts, we’re using humor to draw attention to a serious and often hidden issue, and reminding people that sometimes the least glamorous gift can make the biggest difference,” Haid adds.

It’s familiar ground for the agency. Founded by Haid in 2008 and a certified B Corp, Public Inc. has built its business around helping companies and nonprofits “profit with purpose.”

Slash the junk, keep the diapers

The campaign lives at greatestshittygift.com, where people can watch the spots and donate to partners in the U.S. and Canada. There’s also a game that keeps the bit going: players slash away unwanted gifts and collect the thing millions of families need most.

A spot gets a laugh. A game buys a few more minutes of attention, with a donate button within reach.

Give a shitty gift this year. Make it the one that counts.