As many as 1 in 3 adults—more than 80 percent of them women—have bladder control issues, the Urology Care Foundation says. Causes include pregnancy and childbirth, health conditions such as diabetes and obesity, and changes that accompany aging, according to the Mayo Clinic.

To tap that market, manufacturers have rolled out marketing campaigns to make a leaky bladder seem if not fashionable, then at least not humiliating. Kimberly-Clark sponsored a free concert in New York featuring the Grammy-nominated indie pop band Capital Cities to promote its adult products. It even produced a rap video featuring Kimberly-Clark employees strutting their stuff around one of the company’s factories while wearing nothing below the waist except its adult briefs.

The rap lyrics explain that incontinence hits people of all ages and encourage listeners to “drop their pants for underwareness.”

The company also introduced a social media campaign to raise money for an incontinence-awareness charity.

“They’re driving home the point that attractive people in their 40s and 50s or even younger, not just nursing-home residents, can be wearing this under their clothing,” says Marlene Morris Towns, a teaching professor of marketing at Georgetown University.

Eoin Treacy's view

Consumer Staples have exhibited continued relative strength during the ongoing corrective phase not least because they have strong track records of generating free cash flow by instilling brand loyalty through the reliability of their products for everyday life. 

As a result many of the largest consumer staples companies are also dividend aristocrats and continue to exhibit relative strength. In a falling market that is cold comfort however and Kimberly Clarks developing downside weekly key suggests it is not immune to selling pressure in other parts of the market.