January 20, 2022

Searching for Equality at Breakfast

As long as we’re changing brand names and packaging for Uncle Ben’s, Aunt Jemima and Land O’Lakes – let’s take a closer look at everything on food shelves.

After all, equality comes in many forms. It’s the state of being equal, especially in status, rights and opportunities. Perhaps it’s time for a gender reckoning.

Consider breakfast food – one of the largest perpetuators of stereotypes. It took years of pointing out Kix’s long-standing slogan to maker General Mills before eventually succumbing to our plea. Same for Cheerios, Quaker Oats and El Monterey.

The industry still hasn’t progressed to appropriately reflect the dignity, respect and warmth dads deserve as equal, competent parents.

How do we know? Look at Mom’s Best Cereal. This brand speaks to only one parent on its website:

“Mom’s Best honors and supports real moms”
“By Mom’s. [sic] For Moms.”
“At Mom’s Best we exist for one reason … to make it easier for hardworking moms (like you!) to do right by their families.”
“Moms know what matters most…”
“If you’re a mom who’s social, let’s connect!”
“We have a vibrant community of moms who are keeping it real and trying to give their family what’s best.”

In a world that won’t stand for old-fashioned stamps and unnecessary exclusion, these statements are shameless enough. But when you look at Post Holdings – the corporate site for Mom’s Best – you’ll find some major hypocrisy.

“We strive to exhibit the highest standards of integrity and fairness in everything we do,” Post Holdings states. “We take responsibility for our actions, adopt an unbiased approach to all colleagues, do the right thing, deliver what we promise and are considerate of individual differences and cultures.”

If that’s true, then it’s time to walk the walk.

Post Holdings needs a massive website overhaul and brand renaming from Mom’s Best to Parents Best. Anything less and it will eventually be forced into doing so by an unforgiving public, all the while spending even more time and money playing PR-catch-up. In this zero-tolerance society, it had better appease consumers who expect nothing but love for everyone in the parenting space, not a select few.

Mom’s Best/Post Holdings hasn’t progressed enough to properly exhibit the respect and warmth toward today’s modern families.

The best time to do this would have been years ago when Mom’s Best was created. The second best time is today.

November 16, 2020

Why Do Breakfast Foods Ignore Dads?

Cereal makers can’t seem to wrap their heads around the notion that dads provide breakfast for their kids.

For years we’ve been pointing out the problems of Cheerios, Kix, Quaker and others who continue to disregard dads as part of their customer base.

The latest offender is General Mills, who not only excludes dads from its latest campaign, but uses a possessive pronoun that contributes to the problem.

If you have children, do you refer to them as “my kids” or “our kids” when speaking with others?

The former connotes a more possessive or singular approach, whereas the latter sends a meaning of togetherness and unity. While “my” may seem harmless and unintentional, it conveys a certain message – whether you believe it or not – to others, but also to your partner.

It’s not uncommon to find stories, comments, or blog posts from women who complain that they’re stuck with the majority of the household and parental duties (that’s no fault of the dad – he’s typically working outside the home, but we’ll save this topic for another day). However, wouldn’t the action of calling the baby “ours” drive home a greater spirit of togetherness when tackling daily familial duties? These women might not feel so alone in their work by calling the children ours.

Companies like General Mills furthers this perception, too. It inconspicuously calls the children “your squad.” That makes dad out to be the lesser parent at best, completely irrelevant at worst. General Mills would do families and society a much better service by speaking in terms of “us.”

Using the word “parent” instead of “mom” won’t make or break the marketing business model, and it won’t make a female look away in disgust. Rather, it will make a dad feel like an included member of the family and feel like a valued customer.

It’s time for change. Words matter.™

May 2, 2017

Is Rice Krispies really intended for only kids and moms?

Makers of breakfast foods have long been known for innovation. New cereal and frozen foods hit the shelves regularly.

But it would seem that not everyone’s invited to the table.

Pick up any cereal box and you’ll often discover a world that speaks only to moms. Despite all the newfound innovations in the grocery store, marketers remain convinced that the family dynamic hasn’t changed – that dads don’t take care of children, don’t tend to the home, or even spend their morning ritual with the family.

The Rice Krispies Twitter page reinforces this outdated stereotype with a Twitter bio (right) that excludes dads from the outset. The exclusion is particularly surprising for a brand that’s well accepted and loved by families everywhere — families which include dads.

Its approach is surprisingly consistent with a few of its iconic shelf mates. It wasn’t until 2015 that Cheerios changed its webpage touting itself as “Mom’s Choice.” Kix defers to mom in both slogan and message on every box. Even the back of Frosted Mini-Wheats exhorts kids to specifically ask mom for more. And El Monterey has long used the hashtag #momwins throughout its social media.

Our tweets on the Rice Krispies bio recently caught the attention of Kellogg’s, but the communication fell flat when subsequent tweets weren’t returned. We’re still waiting for what could be a quick fix and thus restore balance to the cereal shelves.

Of course, this particular cereal stretches far beyond the bowl. The oft-duplicated rice puffs are a virtual kitchen staple, useful in many recipes around the kitchen. Its Twitter page frequently touts its popular endearing spinoff, the Rice Krispies treat. Even its venerable mascots Snap, Crackle and Pop resonate with everyone.

Given its prowess in our daily lives, let’s hope Rice Krispies can turn things around soon and become close with dads again.

Like super close.

Like white on rice.

May 13, 2016

Marketers could learn a lot from the NFL

Statistics and ratings indicate that more men attend, watch and follow the NFL in greater numbers than women. Take a casual look at fantasy football leagues, and those numbers widen even more. nfl

So if it were the case, you could forgive the NFL for targeting males in its advertising. But being the wise, billion-dollar enterprise it is, you’ll hardly find its 32 teams (total worth: $63 billion) spending its marketing dollar only where the big money is located.

Rather, it places a strong emphasis on women, and wouldn’t dare make the catastrophic mistake of alienating an important part of its fan base.

So, no, the NFL won’t be unveiling new marketing slogans this season which focus on one gender, such as:

Choosy dads choose the NFL (Jif)
Kid tested, father approved (Kix)
Support for all dadkind (Boppy)
Welcome to the brotherhood of fatherhood (Similac)
#DadsKnow (Juicy Juice)
#DadWins (El Monterey)
Created by a dad for dads (Jesben)
For dad. For kids. From the beginning. (MyGerber)
Good for dads. Awesome for kids. (Capri Sun)

(You might note that none of these items referenced are feminine products.)

The NFL knows how to be popular and prosperous, so currently you see a successful, inclusive slogan like, “Football is Family.”

All of this makes the communication from good2grow so unusual, who claims to be “a family owned and operated company” with “one simple goal—creating wholesome, nutritious drinks in irresistible packaging kids love.” good2grow2

The juxtaposition is unusual, because families include dads, and in general, kids love their dads. So if good2grow wants to create a product kids love, it should consider the other half of its customer base, which also includes boys, many of whom will eventually become dads. Right now, it’s not speaking to dads in print, or on its website.

What do you say, good2grow? Can dads be a part of your team?

April 29, 2016

The most exquisite folly is made of wisdom too fine spun

elmonterey7 How many contradictions can one company make in a single email? We came across this promo recently, and it’s hard to decide which of these items offers more incongruity:

Quoting Ben Franklin – a father – and then saying that its product is a wise choice only for moms?
Using a quote whose original use employs the word “man,” and then disregarding that same “man” in its promotional hashtag?
Using the term “kids” in the ad copy instead of just “girls”? Because after all, El Monterey will eventually disregard the boys (who are among those kids) when they become dads.
Assuming that Ben Franklin would’ve loved El Monterey burritos, when even as an adult in modern times, he couldn’t have made the pick to buy them. Clearly, according to El Monterey, it would’ve taken his own mother to choose them in the store for him.

Of course, the startling, underlying theme for El Monterey once again, is that a mother’s place is in the kitchen. Otherwise, there would be no other reason to continue to snub dads, who certainly must be capable of microwaving a frozen food product.

And also, of course, El Monterey caps off the email promo with its #momwins campaign, which essentially leaves no one as a winner: mom is typecast as the one who cooks, dad loses by way of exclusion.

The disappointing insistence of this El Monterey old fashioned marketing push leaves us hungry for another burrito maker, one that is thus, all the wiser.

June 18, 2015

I don’t wanna taco about it

Now we’re really confused. El Monterey, makers of authentic Mexican frozen foods, has a Twitter page that outright discriminates against dads, yet it was founded by a father and his son.

Don’t believe us? Check out twitter.com/elmonterey, which has a bio reading, “We’re a family owned company dedicated to helping mom conquer her day,” and also includes a #momwins campaign.

If the bio wasn’t exclusionary enough, the #momwins hashtag certainly creates a senseless rift. After all, if mom wins, then where does that leave dad?

We know, we know, its marketing department would tell us that dad wins, too, by way of the delicious food served, but that age-old corporate speak would be missing the point.

This sort of old-fashioned marketing is a tired approach that’s sure to make dad feel left out. If this company really believes the fallacy that dad doesn’t handle kitchen duty (which in turn implies that mom’s place is squarely in the kitchen — ouch), wouldn’t it be all the more reason to promote its easy-to-make, freezer-to-oven products directly to dads themselves?

Oddly, #momwins doesn’t appear on its website, but is used more regularly on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest — all of which could be correctly rather easily.

Many here at dadmarketing headquarters have purchased and enjoyed El Monterey products in the past, but that practice is coming to a sudden stop. Instead of #momwins, it’s now #everybodyelseloses. Isn’t that a calamitous case of marketing gone awry?

Let’s hope its marketing department can make a change for the better, as it reflects on its “family owned” slogan, knowing that dads count as part of the family, too.