The bizarre case of the sexy butt-flap onesie

December 21, 2020 2:27 PM

Why are ads for pajamas with a butt flap taking over the internet? Kate Taylor investigates for Business Insider. (CW: nudity [butt cheek, singular])
posted by uncleozzy (84 comments total)

So that's part of 2020, too? No unions anymore, but union suits making a comeback?
posted by pseudocode at 2:32 PM on December 21, 2020 [12 favorites]

I'm disappointed they don't have any coverage (ha) of the male version of this ad which has been turning up on mine and my partner's FB walls for a while. There's also a onesie that looks like a bear. I don't know what they're selling besides butts but the algorithm has my interests down pretty well.
posted by fight or flight at 2:33 PM on December 21, 2020 [11 favorites]

A page festooned with ads telling a story about pages festooned with ads? An adblocker, the revolution or Jesus, I’m not sure which of those you need but damn, it’s one of them and it’s not this.
posted by mhoye at 2:36 PM on December 21, 2020 [22 favorites]

I like that one of the experts cited throughout is named Jammi.
posted by JimInLoganSquare at 2:46 PM on December 21, 2020 [22 favorites]

I want one for me and one for my sweetie.
posted by vrakatar at 2:49 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

I’ve seen this ad over and over on the Washington Post of all places. Weird.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 2:52 PM on December 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

/laughs in gay
posted by msbutah at 2:53 PM on December 21, 2020 [10 favorites]

lumpenproletariat garmets with rear flap designed for outhouse in order to keep worker warm and increase productivity. The capitalist dogs market this historical garmet for pure profit.
posted by clavdivs at 2:55 PM on December 21, 2020 [11 favorites]

An associated news story I received/was thrust onto my eyeballs while reading this story, was about "Hooters" and "Twin Peaks" chains doing well in the pandemic. It called them "breastaurants."

Should I be surprised?
posted by blob at 3:00 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

I wonder if this is related to the Hawaiian-shirt-print onesies that were a thing a few years ago, which seemed to be at a specific intersection of infantile and swaggeringly dudebro-ish presumably aimed at the Jackass demographic.
posted by acb at 3:00 PM on December 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

Ironically I cannot read the article because I have adblock enabled, which also may be why I'm not recognizing the ad all this flap is about.
posted by niicholas at 3:02 PM on December 21, 2020 [20 favorites]

Some of my Twitter friends discovered this and decided it was for sexy Yosemite Sam cosplay.
posted by pxe2000 at 3:06 PM on December 21, 2020 [10 favorites]

I'm sad I haven't been served with the male version of this ad, just the female version which pops up everywhere when I use my phone. I had no idea this was a universal. I still want to know, is anybody buying this getup?
posted by bluesky43 at 3:09 PM on December 21, 2020

....It is just now occurring to me that with a username like mine, I probably SHOULD at some point buy a butt-flap onesie.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:09 PM on December 21, 2020 [28 favorites]

Exit stage left, even.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:09 PM on December 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

Should I be surprised?
posted by blob

In 2020?
posted by Splunge at 3:09 PM on December 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

farts ain't gonna let themselves out
posted by scruss at 3:15 PM on December 21, 2020 [7 favorites]

And like that: *poof* it was gone.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:19 PM on December 21, 2020

farts ain't gonna let themselves out

Incorrect.
posted by mhoye at 3:19 PM on December 21, 2020 [15 favorites]

I said "good day, sir!" *pfffft!!!!*
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:22 PM on December 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

So in the end, she ordered a pair of them, and…? Did they come? Were they decent quality? Did I miss a “Read More” or “Next Page” link, or does the article just cut off on that giant cliffhanger?
posted by snowmentality at 3:24 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

In the end, she seemed to have run out of material to cover.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:27 PM on December 21, 2020 [34 favorites]

I’ve seen this ad over and over on the Washington Post of all places.

Yeah I think I got it on the NYT?
posted by atoxyl at 3:30 PM on December 21, 2020

Apparently, I live in a different internet universe because I have not seen these ads at all. And I don't have ad blockers. I see tons of ads. But never this.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 3:33 PM on December 21, 2020 [6 favorites]

Wait those flaps, they're for pooping right? In the outhouse, where it's so cold you don't want to take off your long johns?

That flap can't be used for horizontal refreshment, can it? Gasp.
posted by Nelson at 3:37 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

So in the end, she ordered a pair of them, and…? Did they come? Were they decent quality? Did I miss a “Read More” or “Next Page” link, or does the article just cut off on that giant cliffhanger?

She's not the only person pitching this article--if she'd waited for the pajamas to arrive, someone would've beaten her to the story.
posted by box at 3:42 PM on December 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

fight or flight: "I don't know what they're selling besides butts"

If you don't know what the product is, then you are the butt.
posted by chavenet at 3:46 PM on December 21, 2020 [18 favorites]

It takes an unflappable reporter to get to the bottom of this.
posted by mundo at 4:13 PM on December 21, 2020 [16 favorites]

Confederacy making a comeback, might as well have the union suit too.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:15 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Any discussion of vintage long johns reminds me of the old TV show The Waltons.

Which I ignored when I was young. But I started watching some old re-runs with my mom, and it's surprisingly fascinating. The scripts often start off like conventional morality tales, but sometimes diverge into odd resolutions. The protagonist John-Boy sometimes turns into an antagonist, with his family annoyed by his self-righteousness. Once he's gone away and the big war starts, the stories get more subtle.
posted by ovvl at 4:30 PM on December 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

The picture in that article needs to be added to Photoshop Fails - the poor woman's left arm looks like it was grafted onto the bottom of her ribcage.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:32 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Defeated butt flap onesie ad with a popup blocker. Heh FNAR FNARR
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:35 PM on December 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

I wonder if this is related to the Hawaiian-shirt-print onesies that were a thing a few years ago

RompHim finally went out of business this last February.
posted by Sockdown at 4:37 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

I am always glad when I see articles like this that I use a series of adblockers because I literally have not seen this ad once.

Thanks to all the maintainers of Pi-Hole, uBlockOrigin, and Blokada!
posted by deadaluspark at 4:44 PM on December 21, 2020 [12 favorites]

yeah no ads on this browser, so pretty sure I've not seen this.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 4:47 PM on December 21, 2020

something something end-stage capitalism
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:48 PM on December 21, 2020 [6 favorites]

She's not the only person pitching this article--if she'd waited for the pajamas to arrive, someone would've beaten her to the story.

I mean, yes, I do actually realize how this sort of piece works, but thank you for the condescending explanation.

It just seemed like an odd framing — to raise all these questions about whether they’d actually show up or be shit quality if you actually ordered them, and then say “And I ordered them!” and then…
posted by snowmentality at 5:30 PM on December 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

stupid, sexy buttflaps
posted by BungaDunga at 5:35 PM on December 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

anyway I keep getting Wish.com ads that include, and I wish I were making this up, what appear to be sexy hazmat suits with zips
posted by BungaDunga at 5:37 PM on December 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

The picture in that article needs to be added to Photoshop Fails

I've gotten served this ad a bunch. I think the butt in the flap must be photoshopped. (Meaning the flap probably is too.) It feels like the Grand Odalisque... I'm seeing a lot of butt but there maybe should be a crack starting somewhere.
posted by little onion at 5:38 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

I defend my not reading the article because, not having seen these ads, I am sure that if I click on this page, I will.
posted by acrasis at 5:44 PM on December 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

Metafilter: I'm seeing a lot of butt but there maybe should be a crack starting somewhere.
posted by The Toad at 5:51 PM on December 21, 2020

I am always glad when I see articles like this that I use a series of adblockers because I literally have not seen this ad once.

Seconded. Pi-hole + uBlock Origin here.
posted by mikelieman at 6:07 PM on December 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

An associated news story I received/was thrust onto my eyeballs while reading this story, was about "Hooters" and "Twin Peaks" chains doing well in the pandemic. It called them "breastaurants."

Should I be surprised?

2020 was the year it became really clear to me that we’re living in the movie Idiocracy.
posted by nzero at 6:17 PM on December 21, 2020 [4 favorites]

yeah no ads on this browser

Do tell. Even with ad blocking enabled via Firefox in Safari I see these ads all the time.
posted by nzero at 6:20 PM on December 21, 2020

>farts ain't gonna let themselves out
-- scruss

>I said "good day, sir!" *pfffft!!!!*
-- It's Raining Florence Henderson


BRB writing "Bad Janet raids December 2020 for sartorial inspiration" fanfic
posted by MiraK at 6:25 PM on December 21, 2020 [5 favorites]

anyway I keep getting Wish.com ads that include, and I wish I were making this up, what appear to be sexy hazmat suits with zips

I feel like the latex bodysuit fetish community is realizing they were tailor-made for this moment in time.
posted by deadaluspark at 6:26 PM on December 21, 2020 [4 favorites]

Not getting where the confusion is. when I was in high school in the 80sthese onsies were popular, particularly red and white stripes like in Dr. Suess. Of course they had a butt flap so you don't need to take off the top to go. I wish ladies one-piece bathing suits were made with the flap, discreetly, of course.
posted by waving at 6:54 PM on December 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

yeah no ads on this browser

Me neither.

But, heck, now that I looked the article, I do want to know what's going on with that wine glass!
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:56 PM on December 21, 2020

Hilarious, for the past couple of weeks whenever I've looked at MeFi on my phone I've been getting the ads for the butt flap onesie. So I'm like oh at least it's not just me. Imagine my surprise, when I clicked on the link, that the writer is referencing a completely different butt flap onesie ad.
posted by later, paladudes at 7:12 PM on December 21, 2020

I'm baffled by this article only because I've been seeing it everywhere for a few weeks now.

And since my Dad always used to threaten to buy my cousin big red long johns, the kind with a butt flap, (note: he didn't mean the sexy kind cuz that would be creepy AF) it kinda makes me a little bit sad, because my Dad died last year and my cousin has terminal cancer and that is a PROFOUNDLY weird reaction to have to such a low rent, spammy ad and yet, somehow, 47 times a day when I see this ad, I feel sad.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:15 PM on December 21, 2020 [12 favorites]

>>So in the end, she ordered a pair of them, and…? Did they come? Were they decent quality? Did I miss a “Read More” or “Next Page” link, or does the article just cut off on that giant cliffhanger?

>She's not the only person pitching this article--if she'd waited for the pajamas to arrive, someone would've beaten her to the story.

This is actually what happened. Shoshana Wodinsky from Gizmodo and Kate Dries from Vice (linked from the BI story) were working on it yesterday/today.
posted by purpleclover at 7:33 PM on December 21, 2020

Never seen the ads, but I have a sudden urge for tennis?
posted by bartleby at 7:43 PM on December 21, 2020

Pepsi Red?
posted by theora55 at 7:43 PM on December 21, 2020

I also had never seen the ad, but had more than my fair share of butt-flap onesie pajamas foisted on me in childhood. Usually at Christmas. The most egregious ones were red-and-white horizontal striped stretch velour, with feeties and a hood. And a big zipper down the front. With matching ones for my sister. We were, like, ten and eleven, I think.

I never had the courage to use the butt flap for its intended purpose, though. I was always afraid of somehow getting it dirty.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:44 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Bonus SB4SB clip, for anyone with a yen for the 'filthy prospector' look.
posted by bartleby at 7:45 PM on December 21, 2020

Great Lakes and Northern Mefites: do you have a vague memory of a novelty song, done in an 'Uncle Olaf' voice, of "Cos I'm itchin' up here, and scratchin'down dere, Valkin' in my Vinter Undervear"?
posted by bartleby at 7:55 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

So, I actually have a (yes, traditional red) union suit I wear regularly as my warmest set of long underwear. (They're seriously warm).

Anyway, they don't have a flap. They have what is basically a butt-fly. Two triangles of fabric that are meant to overlap and button together. The button disappeared long ago, but I've been using a diaper safety pin for years with no issues. When it's time, you undo the pin, pull the halves apart (they expand far enough for only skin to touch the toilet seat), you do your thing, then after you've cleaned up you replace the pin and pull up the trousers and go along your way.

I love my union suit. It's got an odd stretch and pull against the movement of my skin that I find pleasing one some level. It's really really warm, though. Like, I most commonly wear it in more mild temperatures as a single layer under my very loose overalls. I'm quite warm enough that way often even without a jacket in above-freezing winter weather.

Anyway, red union suit under overalls reminds me of backwoods characters who end up being helpful to Jean Claude Van Damme in his movies, so I'm okay with that look.
posted by hippybear at 8:04 PM on December 21, 2020 [7 favorites]

Glad to learn it's just spamming everyone with sexy holiday pajamas, I was starting to wonder what I'd done to be singled out.
posted by temancl at 8:09 PM on December 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

red union suit under overalls reminds me of backwoods characters who end up being helpful AKA, the Uncle Jessie look. Can't go wrong.
posted by bartleby at 8:21 PM on December 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

Great Lakes and Northern Mefites: do you have a vague memory of a novelty song, done in an 'Uncle Olaf' voice, of "Cos I'm itchin' up here, and scratchin'down dere, Valkin' in my Vinter Undervear"?

Well, that would be a piece from Jimmy Jenson, or, Yimmy Yenson, The Singing Swede.
posted by Ber at 8:35 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: nudity [butt cheek, singular]
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:01 PM on December 21, 2020

Great Lakes and Northern Mefites: do you have a vague memory of a novelty song, done in an 'Uncle Olaf' voice, of "Cos I'm itchin' up here, and scratchin'down dere, Valkin' in my Vinter Undervear"?

Stan Boreson! Though he was from out here near Seattle. Sadly passed away a few years back.
posted by Zalzidrax at 10:00 PM on December 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

which also may be why I'm not recognizing the ad all this flap is about.

Er, the flap is about two or three inches below the waist, I suppose. Do you have any other questions?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:11 PM on December 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

I always get served ads for truly, truly bafflingly horrible clothes and had assumed it was just me. While I'm here - anyone else had white dress shirts with what's meant to look like rivulets of coloured paint pouring down from one shoulder, or tees with giant kittens breaking though a pattern of geometric shapes?
posted by ominous_paws at 10:31 PM on December 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

/laughs in gay

I'm stealing this for all the ridiculous things and ridiculous people I have to deal with.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:03 AM on December 22, 2020 [3 favorites]

The article is really badly written, it's so stuffed with keywords it makes for a straight-up meta-commentary on how ad tech is also shaping 'journalism' for the worse. There's a great piece to be written about how digital marketing has evolved into the insidious climbing ivy of the online ecosystem but this isn't it.
posted by freya_lamb at 1:30 AM on December 22, 2020 [5 favorites]

Do tell. Even with ad blocking enabled via Firefox in Safari I see these ads all the time.

I'm running Firefox with Adblock Plus including EasyList, Mute and Prebake inter alia, all 'acceptable ads' and social media disabled; Adblock for YouTube, NoScript, Decentraleyes, HTTPS Everywhere, Privacy Badger, Pure URL, Unrecommender, WebRTC Shield, CanvasBlocker, Google Analytics Blocker and a couple of cookie warning blockers; a few Greasemonkey scripts, most of the PrivacyTools.io config tweaks, a bunch of manual userChrome.css hacks, and a heavily edited hosts file.

When you think about it, it's a miracle I can actually see anything on the internet at all.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:32 AM on December 22, 2020 [10 favorites]

A o in the end, she ordered a pair of them, and…? Did they come? Were they decent quality? Did I miss a “Read More” or “Next Page” link, or does the article just cut off on that giant cliffhanger?

You expected full coverage?
posted by nubs at 5:47 AM on December 22, 2020 [7 favorites]

Goddamnit journalist-type people -

PORING not POURING
posted by soundguy99 at 8:14 AM on December 22, 2020 [9 favorites]

Butt-flap visibility update: In my feeds, the original has been replaced by a flood of copycats. It's a butt-flap world, we just live in it.
posted by vibrotronica at 8:22 AM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

the poor woman's left arm looks like it was grafted onto the bottom of her ribcage.

"Left"?? Which way am I facing again? I meant her right arm.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:36 AM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

“Brands”
posted by sjswitzer at 1:56 PM on December 22, 2020

Along with the butt flap ads, I have also seen the same weird T shirts as ominous_paws! They have these weird optical illusions that seem to jump out at you from the screen. Wtf!
posted by exquisite_deluxe at 6:31 PM on December 22, 2020

1972: Watergate

2020: Buttgate

Article written by journalist Kate Tailor Taylor
posted by mundo at 6:51 PM on December 22, 2020

2020: Buttgate

Calling that bit of cloth a gate is dignifying it overmuch, if you ask me.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:37 PM on December 22, 2020

My butt might be offended if you’re suggesting it’s small.

Just like Watergate, there’s a coverup going on here.
posted by mundo at 8:24 PM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

Based on the ads, not very effective.
posted by hippybear at 8:39 PM on December 22, 2020 [4 favorites]

Butt flaps are more of a drawbridge than a gate.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:06 PM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

The motto for the Washington Post is "Democracy Dies in Darkness."

Be they drawbridges, gates, or flaps: let democracy shine.
posted by mundo at 10:23 PM on December 22, 2020

I like butt-flap butts, and I will elucidate my reasons for doing so.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:41 PM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

Not getting where the confusion is. when I was in high school in the 80sthese onsies were popular, particularly red and white stripes like in Dr. Suess

I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers this! And: I still have mine. My grandmother got it for me in 1985, for Christmas. She couldn't believe it was on my Christmas list. She said "I spent my childhood trying to not have to wear those."

I put this in the same 80s-revivals category as suspenders (which I also had).
posted by Miko at 6:24 AM on December 23, 2020

So you're telling me they have underwear I can wear out to the outhouse in the snow, and not have to disrobe to use the john? What a country!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:20 AM on December 24, 2020 [1 favorite]

Six posts down people are putting potatoes up their butt. I think the flap makes it easier to change your potato. Merry Xmas!
posted by Mr. Yuck at 6:29 PM on December 24, 2020 [2 favorites]