Month: April 2015

April 22, 2015

Nestle Pure Life misfires

You’ll find no knee-jerk reaction to marketing campaigns we encounter before posting them at dadmarketing.com.

When we saw the new “Nestle Pure Life Promise” campaign on the side of a water bottle which exclaims, “Meet our moms,” it might be easy to jump to conclusions.nestlepurelife

At first glance it looked like another company proclaiming “mom” as the family decision-maker, purchaser and overall food/drink provider.

At second glance, and looking deeper at its website, Nestle is trying to use employees who happen to be parents, while proclaiming that their roles as moms and employees are virtually intertwined.

That seems rather admirable.

After watching the mom videos, however, that’s when we started to notice some onesidedness at the expense of dads.

You’ll see what we mean when you check out the quote from Teneisha, account sales representative: “We are so focused on quality, and so I use that in my home, I give my family the best. Love is a reflection of quality; if I give you a bottle of Nestle Pure Life, I’m giving you a bottle of love.”

So here we have a quote that once again purports the stereotype that mom is the one who shops, makes the food decisions, and gives out the love.

Of course, it’s entirely plausible that Teneisha is a single mom, thus, the only provider for her home. But assuming that is missing the point.

Instead, here we see yet another campaign which only focuses on the moms, and it continues to perpetuate the unfortunate stereotype that dads are only the monetary providers at best, and hardly the providers of food, meals, or even love.

It’s disappointing to see Nestle Pure Life’s misfire with this campaign.

When it comes to bottled water, thanks anyway Nestle Pure Life, but we’ll drink something else.

April 7, 2015

Johnson & Johnson: taking cues from Amazon Mom

Last May, we wrote about a Johnson & Johnson ad which clearly excluded dads, and then tweeted the company of our displeasure.

Johnson & Johnson wrote back, as you can see on our Twitter site here, and assured us that it “is committed to supporting parents – moms & dads.”

Those were uplifting and encouraging words, especially from a company which plays at least some small part of everyone’s child care, usually from the very start in the hospital.

Yet here we are, nearly a year later, and J&Js marketing message hasn’t changed. Note the featured ad, where the baby only thanks mom for applying its lotion.johnson&johnson2

If you’re a dad, I suspect that right now you’re feeling abandoned by a company whose products you probably used in the hospital right upon your child’s birth. A cold shoulder like this hurts, especially if you saw that Twitter promise last May.

Sadly, Johnson & Johnson’s dad avoidance doesn’t stop with print ads, as its website is filled with examples of one exclusion after another:

  • Visit our Facebook page to share your baby’s special moments with other Moms just like you.
  • Moms around the world trust JOHNSON’S® to safely care for their babies.
  • We’re dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of women, children and families around the world.
  • We are committed to working with moms, healthcare experts and scientists to ensure our baby products continue achieving the highest JOHNSON’S® baby standards.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again:  dads count too.  We can’t expect change to happen overnight, but it has been 11 months after J&J distinctly gave us its commitment – one that sadly wasn’t kept.

Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 by two men who may very well have had their own family in mind when conceiving ideas for surgical dressings and sanitation practices. It has to make you wonder about its overall company mission when its marketing and communications team prefers to only speak to a select group, and blatantly ignores another.

Right this very moment, a child is born somewhere and J&J is playing a part in its care.

And also right at this very moment, J&Js marketing department has an opportunity to show dads everywhere it really cares, because as any married couple will tell you, a promise is everything.