Mother asks Reddit 'did this Huggies ad photoshop THIGH GAP on a toddler?'

A screenshot of a marketing email from Huggies has gone viral after a Reddit user asked if the brand had photoshopped a thigh gap on to their toddler-aged model.

The post, written by user spittingpigeon, asked fellow Redditors, 'Is it just me or did this huggies ad photoshop thigh gap on a toddler?', accompanied by a picture of the email in question.

Other users were quick to question the allegation, with one writing: 'My toddler (22 months) has a "thigh gap." He's small and also has incredibly thin little 'chicken legs' and would probably look like this if he put his knees together.'

Another responded, 'I think they shopped the diaper on which created the weirdness,' whilst a third agreed, 'I was thinking the same thing, the diaper is their product so generally companies want it to look perfect. I think the baby's silly legs were just a side effect lol!'

The picture received so much attention that spittingpigeon, real name Melody, gave an interview with Yahoo! Parenting to explain why she'd highlighted her concerns.

'The picture looked manipulated,' the California-based mum, who has an 11-month-old daughter, explained. 'Really manipulated — like what you see in fashion magazines to make models too thin and too perfect,' she adds.

'I just felt like there’s no need for airbrushing to exist on an ad about babies. All babies are wonderful and super cute. A baby is perfect no matter what.'

Melody, who asked for her second name not to be used, added that the image 'made me feel badly. I mean, don’t we love our babies no matter how they look? This ad was not cool.'

However, Huggies later released a statement in response to the post, denying that they had edited the image or any other images of children.

'All babies are different - we look to celebrate those differences and everyday tests and messes in our photography and communication,' Huggies spokesperson Terry Balluck told Daily Mail Online.

'We always use real-life customers and users of our products, and do not airbrush the bodies of the babies in our advertising and photography.'