About two weeks ago, 250 dad bloggers, influencers, journalists, authors, and brands spent an amazing weekend together at the Dad 2.0 Summit. The loud hum resonating throughout the weekend off of the tongues of dadvocates was the question: When will the mainstream media and brands start to recognize what we observe everyday - nurturing, capable, confident dads that enjoy being an integral part of their children's lives? Why must brands continue to portray fathers as doofus, inept, distant, or scared?
We'd like you to watch a few commercials that came out this week and ask yourself, Are We Observing a Seismic Shift in Brand Advertisements' Portrayal of Fathers?
First up, a Tide Commercial. Tide has been on the right track for the past few years with testing out ads involving fathers - you might recall the "Dad-Mom" ad, or the "stay at home dad" ad. Each time, they tweak, modify, and steer the ship in a positive direction - moving the conversation forward. We believe they have finally perfected their craft with this one - a credit to an active, engaged, hands-on dad who not only enjoys playing with his daughter, he also does the laundry. Special thanks to the Chris Routly, for pointing us over to this one. We agree that after watching this advertisement - it motivates you to go do a load of laundry! and I hate doing laundry!
Second ad - the always amusing Charlie Capen of How To Be a Dad uses his talented acting skills, serious father side, and a powerful bonding moment with his child to execute authentic brand integration with Kia Optima in a way that we find groundbreaking. In this case, Capen spends some quality time with his son working on a "message in a bottle" project and set it free together in the sky. The Kia Optima is present in the commercial, but always seems to be in the background noise of this inspiring father-son moment.
Bravo!
Finally, another car company, Subaru, displays an overprotective dad facing a monumental nervous parenting moment when he has to send his daughter off on the school bus for the very first time. We love this touching commercial! Bravo to Tide, Kia, and Subaru! What brand is next?
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