Month: December 2017

December 18, 2017

Waiting for Fisher-Price to acknowledge dads

For many Christians, the four-week Advent season is time of expectant waiting and preparation for Christmas. The strong emphasis on waiting is similar to how Jesus’ parents – Mary and Joseph – waited for their child to be born, which is, of course, fully comparable to any parent today waiting on the birth of a child.

Waiting isn’t always fun, but that’s exactly what dads have been doing for several Christmases now, and it has nothing to do with pregnancy. They’re waiting for Fisher-Price to acknowledge them as equal parents and users of their products.

It’s at the Fisher-Price website where it showcases a video (scroll about halfway down) undermining dad as not only a parent, but also as a customer – a cardinal sin of any business.

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The video warmly thanks moms for choosing Fisher-Price as the most loved and trusted brand — a wonderful gesture — yet Fisher-Price happens to forget someone. Awkwardly enough, the video highlights two fathers during its one minute montage.

All of it is like being at a party where the host only greets and speaks with the wife, not the husband.fisherprice4.jpg

But equally surprising is that this video was based on a 2015 survey, which begs two immediate questions:

  1. Why survey only moms? In today’s dual-income, online shopping world, dads have a major impact on the state of today’s retail industry. Modern families have progressed to the point that it’s not just mom spending the family’s income – it’s dad, too. In addition, statistics prove that holiday shopping is consistently shared by both parents who want to have equal input on gift buying.
  2. Why has this video remained active for two years? That’s a long time for Fisher-Price to thank only one-half of its customers and ignore the rest, especially when we’ve tweeted them several times over the years, with no response.

Unfortunately, the video isn’t the only exclusion Fisher-Price exhibits. Its online commerce store remains consistent in ignoring fathers as important nurturers and members of the family (photo right).fisherprice2.jpg

Fisher-Price was founded by three individuals, two of whom were men, and together devised a mission to “keep enriching the lives of young families.”

If they’d like to honor their past and fulfill that mission, perhaps Fisher-Price could make a quick revision and respect the many breadwinners whose income went toward the purchase of a Fisher-Price product.

Dads have waited long enough. It’s time for change.

December 14, 2017

Milking an old stereotype for all it’s not worth

Whenever dads are used in commercials, they’re often portrayed as comic fodder: goofy, bumbling, inept, clumsy. The dad joke isn’t just something humorous your father once said – he is the joke. We’re not laughing with him – we’re laughing at him.

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The California Milk Advisory Board recently featured dad in a TV spot, and while he’s not the butt of jokes, its marketing decides to take a different approach. Here they attempt to offer dad props, but it turns out to be nothing more than backhanded praise with an open belief that mom is the real, primary parent.

You’ll be surprised at how many insults can be leveled toward dad in this 30-second ad.realcaliforniamilk

“Welcome to Saturday,” the ad’s voiceover slowly declares. “Sure, mom does all the heavy lifting during the week, but on this day dad makes flapjacks dripping with hot, melting California butter. And somehow dad’s the MVP: Most Valuable Parent. It’s just not fair.”

A gaggle of kids then scoot by with assurance: “Love you mom.”

Let’s look at the script piece-by-piece.

“…mom does all the heavy lifting during the week…” – Really? All the heavy lifting? In today’s modern dual-income families, don’t dads contribute a little more than the old-fashioned stereotypes of the ‘50s? Besides, why discount dad’s role as a breadwinner that provides for the family? Whether you’re stay-at-home or employed outside the home, both roles are equally important no matter the gender.

“…somehow dad’s the MVP…” – Did the ad just say “somehow,” as if to imply it was a fluke that he could be equally, competent and valuable to a family as a mom? Let’s stop keeping score as if parenting and/or housework is an equal 50-50 split. That’s a fallacy, and completely unfair to the spouse who works outside the home to provide. This kind of talk only creates a parenting divide.

“It’s just not fair” – This line might be the kicker of them all. Is it not fair that dad could possibly be an equal parent? It’s as if the California Milk Advisory Board is afraid they might have offended moms, so they have to offer assurance by way of the kids declaring, “Don’t worry, we still love you mom.”

Two other factors are at play in this ad. One is that you never actually see dad’s face. Granted, the food is the real star, but the child’s smile was shown. Couldn’t there have been better acknowledgment of dad, perhaps by showing the same warm grin on his face?

What’s more, the ad closes by declaring that its milk is delivered “from our family farms to your table.” Family includes everyone – even dad – and isn’t it ironic that the very people who deliver this product have been discounted by the product it represents?

If some company told women they don’t know about sports, home repair or cars, they’d be considered sexist. There’d be public uproar. And all of it would be justified.

But when another says that dad doesn’t do as much as mom, he’s not as valuable to a family as mom and he’s simply not an equal parent – we’re good?

December 7, 2017

Spilling drinks on dads

As a national voice for the non-alcoholic beverage industry, the American Beverage Association (ABA) sure doesn’t seem to represent the national voice.

Founded in 1919, this trade organization includes producers and bottlers of soft drinks, bottled water and other non-alcoholic beverages. Unless you’re a sports history fan, you may not recognize the ABA acronym, but you know some of the drinks it represents: Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper.

These major brands appear in a commercial together – that’s right, together – to help tout how the ABA is offering more drinks with less sugar and smaller portions.americanbeverage2.png

Only a message as important as this could help competing brands join forces for a greater cause. That greater cause, of course, is selling more drinks. However, that’s still a tough sell for soda makers who regularly come under fire for contributing to America’s obesity and overall health problems — items of concern to parents everywhere.

So who does the ABA enlist as a voice of reason in its ad?

Not both parents, who in today’s modern world share influence over their kids’ nutrition. Instead, they tout only mom as the one who watches everyone’s diet. That national voice should include dads if that’s indeed what the ABA represents.

Instead, the 30-second ad remains stuck in time and saddled by old-fashioned stereotypes that undermine fathers as equal, competent parents while the narrator explains:

“Everyone’s gotta listen to mom when it comes to reducing the sugar in your family’s diet…because we know mom wants what’s best.”

The ABA’s work is important, and their message is vital to winning back customers for its members. But ignoring the contribution of dads to families is an unfortunate oversight for these major drink manufacturers and its lobbying group. Again, dads are very much part of the national voice.americanbeverage1.png

There’s simply no reason to suggest that dads aren’t involved in raising children and taking care of families. Besides, it offers an incredible disservice to mom by heaping all of this responsibility on her shoulders while indirectly implying that a mom’s place is in the kitchen.

Its leadership owes parents a swift apology. Modern families want new choices when it comes to drinks, accompanied by equally progressive ads they represent. They also want to be treated like valued customers. To be sure, the topic affects both parents, not just moms.

A change in approach for these beverages will signal a refreshing, new era that appeals to everyone — and everyone certainly includes fathers.

December 1, 2017

Parental equality made easy

Dads are often told they’re inadequate in varied ways. They didn’t do the diaper correctly. They didn’t fold the laundry properly. The dishwasher wasn’t loaded right. And of course, the ever-popular dads don’t know how to cook.

Deep down, we all know this is absurd. When dads are “corrected” for doing things wrong, that’s unfair because they didn’t do it wrong; they may have done it different, but different isn’t necessarily wrong.

So now we have Unilever, the world’s largest consumer goods company and operator of Country Crock, telling us not countrycrock1.pngonly that dads can’t bake, but can’t even handle easy baking.

It’s true that home cooking is more often associated with women than men, but that doesn’t mean companies should exclude dads. If anything, there’s a missed opportunity to covet an untapped market. Companies would be wise to target fathers just the same.

Via stereotypes and old fashioned attitudes, home repair is more connected with men than women, but Lowe’s regularly employs women in its marketing. There’s not a single female player in the NFL, but the league still spends millions trying to reach women and moms. Harley-Davidson has benefited greatly by pursuing female customers.

Couldn’t the rest of the marketing world learn from these success stories and apply them to fathers?

Ironically, in the culinary world, professional, high-status cooking is a male-dominated sport. According to Ann Cooper, author of “A Woman’s Place Is in the Kitchen: The Evolution of Women Chefs,” 55 percent of people working in the culinary industry are men.

The dads can’t cook myth also does an equal disservice to women by inferring that a mother’s place is in the kitchen. The reality is that it’s really not that hard to follow a recipe. Yet countless food manufacturers refuse to include dad on their websites, in promotions, or on commercials. Even micro meals — arguably the easiest food prep of all — don’t speak to fathers.

countrycrock2.jpgWe implore Unilever and Country Crock to take a strong look at how dads are treated and used in their marketing. Now is the time for its creative agency to view dads with a clean slate by erasing all the myths and misguided labels, which drag fathers down from being viewed as equal and adept parents.

Companies who’d like to increase revenue and brand loyalty need to implement a different marketing strategy if they want to reach dads.

Women will never be treated with equality in the workforce until we start to treat dads the same at home. The two are intertwined. Exhibiting a gender bias in both is wrong, but the good news is that it’s fairly quick and easy to start making website edits. The rest of the company culture will follow and positively affect its other family of products.

You can make that happen today, Unilever. Families are watching.