fathers

September 1, 2026

Fall Is Here. Is Dad in Your Marketing?

September marks a significant change in the American consumer calendar. For brands, it’s one of the busiest stretches of the year.

It’s also a good time to consider whether dad is getting the attention he deserves.

Fathers are involved in everyday decisions that shape household spending, from groceries and children’s activities to education, technology, travel and financial products.

Yet marketing still sometimes relies on a familiar division of roles: mom manages the household and the children, while dad appears only when the subject turns to cars, tools, sports, or grilling.

Reality is considerably more complicated.

A 2026 survey of fathers found that 92% said they influence household purchases, with 37% identifying as the primary decision-maker and another 55% saying they make decisions jointly with their partner. Fathers reported involvement in decisions involving education, healthcare, nutrition, children’s entertainment and financial planning.

The numbers suggest something marketers may want to keep in mind as the fall season begins: dad isn’t a niche consumer. He is the audience brands are already trying to reach.

Football Is More Than a Dad Stereotype

Football may be the most obvious example. Every new football season ushers in another fall of weekend games, fantasy leagues, tailgates, watch parties and conversations about teams and players. Football has long been one of the easiest cultural shortcuts for marketing to men. Put a dad in a recliner, add a television, a plate of wings and a jersey, and the scene is immediately recognizable.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that image. Plenty of dads will spend part of the fall exactly that way. But it represents only one small part of what being a dad looks like.

The same father watching Sunday football may also be the father coaching his daughter’s soccer team Saturday morning. He may be the one buying the groceries for a gameday gathering, helping a son with homework, taking the kids to practice or planning the family’s weekend.

That’s where the opportunity gets more interesting for marketers. Rather than asking, “What do dads buy?” perhaps the better question is, “What role does dad play in the decisions we’re already marketing around?”

And for a master class in how to market to both genders, look no further than the NFL.

Fall is a Family Season

This matters because so much of fall marketing is really family marketing.

Football. Halloween. Fall clothing. Home improvement. Outdoor activities. Streaming. Travel. Food. Youth sports. And, before long, holiday shopping. These aren’t isolated categories with neatly divided male and female consumers. They’re parts of family life, and fathers are absolutely involved in the decisions surrounding them.

That doesn’t mean every campaign needs to feature a dad. Nor does it mean marketers should force fathers into advertisements simply to check a demographic box. It means brands should be careful about assuming that the mother is the default consumer whenever a product or service involves children or the household.

The goal isn’t to replace one stereotype with another. It’s to make the picture more accurate.

The Dad Behind the Purchase

One reason this can be easy to miss is that fathers don’t always announce themselves as consumers. That’s because most fathers don’t want the spotlight. They tend to put their spouses and kids first, thus remaining in the background.

A dad may be researching the family vehicle without being the person who ultimately walks into the dealership. He may compare youth sports equipment online before discussing it with his spouse. He may research a new television, plan a family vacation or decide which streaming service makes sense for the household.

In many cases, the purchasing decision is shared. That matters because marketing has historically been very interested in identifying a single “decision-maker.” But families don’t always work that way. The purchase may belong to the household, while the research, recommendation, comparison, or final decision is divided between two parents.

The Modern Dad Doesn’t Need a Special Campaign

There is also a danger in overcorrecting. Marketing to dads doesn’t necessarily mean creating a “dad campaign.” In fact, the most effective approach may be to stop treating fathers as a niche audience in the first place. A father doesn’t necessarily want advertising that announces, “Hey, dad, this one’s for you!” He may simply want to see himself represented naturally in the life the brand is depicting.

That could mean a father packing lunches. A dad shopping for school clothes. A father taking his kids to practice. A dad making dinner. A father comparing insurance options. A dad decorating the house for Halloween.

And yes, sometimes it can mean a dad sitting down to watch football. The point isn’t that one image is wrong. It’s that one image isn’t enough.

A More Complete Picture

The advertising industry has become increasingly attentive to the ways it portrays women and mothers. That has helped broaden the picture of family life presented in advertising.

Fathers are part of that picture, too.

The traditional image of dad as breadwinner, disciplinarian and weekend recreational companion hasn’t disappeared. It simply doesn’t describe every father, or necessarily the majority of what fathers contribute to family life.

For marketers, September offers a useful reminder.

As the country moves into football season, fall activities and eventually the holiday shopping season, there will be countless opportunities to show families as they actually live. That doesn’t require making dad the star of every advertisement. It may simply require remembering that he’s in the picture. He’s watching the game. He’s also doing a lot of other things.

Marketing should probably notice.

August 1, 2025

How the AI Era Is Changing Fatherhood

Parenting looks a lot different than it did just a decade ago, and it’s no surprise that artificial intelligence is playing a part. From smart baby monitors to AI tutors, technology is increasingly embedded in daily family life. For dads, this shift presents new opportunities and new responsibilities.

Changing Marketing and Home Life

Stereotypically sidelined by marketing and media, society now sees fathers as visible even though they always were. And that’s because AI is making them even more able to be seen, plus more influential and efficient. Today’s dad might ask ChatGPT to help plan a healthy dinner, use an AI-powered calendar to juggle soccer practice and school pickups, or monitor sleep patterns with a smart crib. These tools are reshaping the way dads operate with caregiving.

AI is also pushing back on those outdated labels. That’s because any parent can rely on the same digital assistants and tools, which levels the playing field. In fact, some dads are becoming the tech-forward problem-solvers of the household, managing everything from virtual parent-teacher meetings to budgeting apps.

Tech as a Tool, Not a Crutch

But the rise of AI in parenting also comes with challenges. Are we outsourcing too much of the mental load to machines? Are dads using these tools to genuinely connect or to just automate? Like any innovation, it depends on how it’s used.

The good news is that AI gives fathers a chance to be more engaged. That will ultimately shape the way, say, a national brand diaper manufacturer sees fathers.

So, the future of fatherhood isn’t just about embracing technology; it’s about using it to build stronger, more balanced families where dads are rightly seen as equal, competent parents.

July 17, 2023

Pondering the ‘World’s Greatest Dad’

The saying, “World’s Greatest Dad” is a most curious one. For those fortunate to know that saying to be true – can everyone be right?

On one hand, it’s not literally possible. A more accurate classification might be, “One of the World’s Greatest Dads.” We haven’t met every dad on earth in order to accurately make this claim. And we also know that “greatness” is in the eye of the beholder. There is no quantifiable measuring stick for the significance of a person.

On the other hand, there can be no debating such a declaration. If you know this to be true, you know you were graced with the Greatest Dad, hands down. He never stops validating it, and there are conclusive examples of his love nonstop from birth to present day.

The funny thing is, whenever you make this claim, no arguments ensue. If one were to make other proclamations, such as the greatest pizza, NHL forward, or president – disagreements would arise. Yet you could hear someone else tell you his dad is the greatest, and you’d merely nod and smile while acknowledging he’s right, and knowing that you are, too.

And if there’s so many great dads, why do we need national institutions and its billboards insisting that there’s a fatherhood crisis? That we need to “Take time to be a dad today”? We don’t see these exhortations for moms. So why perpetuate an unfair stigma about dads? Both parents need support. The truth is that the responsible, active dads far out-number the negligent ones.

The entertainment and media industry are often responsible for this misrepresentation of fatherhood. Even today, a dad who takes care of the children alone or handles household chores is referred to as Mr. Mom. Yet he’s not a mom, nor a replacement for mom; he’s an equal, competent parent who’s simply a dad.

A few years ago, there was a news story titled, “Dads are wired to ‘mother’ too.” The awkward and inappropriate headline left dads both laughing and furious: no, dads are not wired to ‘mother’; they’re wired to ‘father.’

Being a dad is difficult work. Societal expectations still suggest dads need to provide monetarily, though today’s dads want to be present and not miss a thing. Pulling them off equally – trying to be the provider and caretaker – makes today’s dads all the greater.

So, no, there’s no fatherhood crisis. Fatherhood is alive and well, and there are a lot of great dads out there.

Chances are, you’re the Greatest One around.

July 11, 2022

When Good Tweets Go Bad – How Huggies Handled Father’s Day

Huggies had an interesting series of tweets for Father’s Day. Let’s explore them one at a time.

This tweet appeared on Thursday, June 16 and it centered upon everyone else’s Father’s Day pun: the dad joke. Most companies use the dad joke as its standard trope for Father’s Day, and it’s feeling threadbare. Sure, dads can be silly but so can moms. It’s important to find humor in each gender but dad jokes, dad bods – sometimes it gets a little old. Here Huggies isn’t just laughing with dads, it’s laughing at them.

But you’ll never find companies poke fun at moms. Never. Why must dads be the constant butt of jokes? There’s a lot more to men than playing the fool, which leads us to Huggies’ next few posts.

The next few tweets – one day before Father’s Day – followed a similar pattern. Any dad can relate to these, but you know what else they can relate to? Love. Sacrifice. Nurturing. Thoughtfulness. Involvement. Compassion. Empathy. Hope. Hard work. Success.

Consider the emotions and feelings which comprise fatherhood – it’s virtually endless. Following the same pattern year after year and only tapping into humor didn’t help Huggies connect with dads on a very deep level.

Huggies’ first tweet on Father’s Day seemed thoughtful and well-intentioned at first. However, it congratulated dads for performing a task one presumes is outside their scope. It implied that dads don’t braid hair. It assumed – because dads traditionally don’t have long hair – that dads have difficulty executing a braid.

In today’s modern world we constantly tell women and girls they can do anything, that there’s no glass ceiling. We cheer on women to become CEOs, physicists, presidents, astronauts and action heroes – but we suggest braiding hair is hard for men? Alas, sexism isn’t a one-way street.

Now imagine Huggies posting something like this on Mother’s Day: “To the moms learning how to play baseball with your boy, or build a deck, or work on the car, etc., for the first time: you’re doing great.”

That post wouldn’t happen because it would demean women. It would stereotype they can’t or don’t do something. So, why do this to dads?

Next, in a similar vein, Huggies gave props to the stay-at-home dads. This was nice, of course, but again could you envision Huggies posting a comparable message on Mother’s Day?

“To all the working moms: you rock. Keep doing you, mom.”

Of course not.

There is a way to honor stay-at-home dads for their contribution to the family and home, but this wasn’t it.

Huggies then completed its Father’s Day messaging with the granddaddy of them all. A tweet that managed to redefine the meaning of this focused, intentional June holiday.

It’s easy to infer what Huggies was trying to convey – that there are a lot of moms who do double duty either as single moms, or who carry the load when dad is away. These noble, hard-working women deserve their day in the sun. Come to think of it, they had one on May 8.

Which is why Father’s Day is for fathers, and Mother’s Day is for mothers. Period.

And once again, apply the same premise to a Mother’s Day post and you’d create absolute shock, stir a whirlwind of viral activity, followed by a full-blown mutiny.

If you re-read Huggies’ tweets you’ll notice, not once, did it simply state, “Happy Father’s Day.”

Their social media team has some work to do, but perhaps next year it could start there.

March 2, 2021

Looking at Fatherhood Differently

Have you ever noticed how many organizations, groups, websites and social media accounts are devoted to helping men become better husbands and fathers?

Quite a few. It’s a noble effort to improve their lives and the lives of those around them.

On the flip side, you see far less devoted to helping women become better wives and mothers.

Why is that? And why is there a fatherhood.gov, whose goal is to provide, facilitate, and disseminate current research and proven and innovative… Why does it have a “Take Time to Be a Dad Today” slogan?

All of this is nice and well-intentioned. But there a motherhood.gov with a slogan, “Take Time to Be a Mom Today.”

Don’t these organizations at least provide the possibility they could be making dads feel inadequate, deficient and lessening their worth in the eyes of others? Moms bear no more instinctual ability to parent than dads.

There is no gender equality for dads in the parenting world. If a working mom requests time off for maternity leave or to care for a family member, companies oblige. The reaction is different when a dad requests the same.

Dads make huge sacrifices to provide for their families. While they’re at work providing for their families – sometimes gone days or weeks due to demanding jobs – they’re unable to spend time with their children through no fault of theirs. Oftentimes unfortunate economic circumstances have them living in poverty. The things dads do for their wives and children is commendable.

Maybe, just maybe, we’ve got fatherhood all wrong. Maybe dads aren’t broken. Maybe dads don’t need fixed.

Maybe we just need to look at things differently.

October 1, 2020

Something’s Fishy Here

One could easily argue that Goldfish is the Disney of snack crackers.

Starting from a single idea, the company has widely diversified, established itself as an industry leader, expanded into larger markets around the globe, spanned generations, segmented into other areas and created the world’s most recognizable cracker – which serves as the company’s official mascot.

The Goldfish cracker is simple, tiny and lovable – not to mention tasty, which is more than you can say for Disney’s official mascot. It’s the perfect go-to snack for youth sports everywhere, solidly paired with its thirst-quenching counterpart, the juice box.

The Goldfish cracker has had different shapes, colors, flavors, branded tie-ins and spinoffs. As consumers, we eat them for snacks, at meals and as desserts.

(Now, if they could only figure out a breakfast-style cracker.)

Quite simply, there is nothing the Goldfish cracker can’t do.

Except champion equality.

Its latest ad disregards fathers – an unfortunate tactic from a company with a decent track record.

Just two years ago we thanked Goldfish for its inclusive message right on the package. Today, its latest magazine ad tosses dads back into the water for no apparent reason.

Words matter – something Goldfish, Pepperidge Farm and its creative team apparently has yet to learn. It had better change its ways soon before mainstream media, social media and society’s disapproving stare reminds them that stereotypes are wrong.

Everyone’s watching.

August 13, 2020

It’s a Start, But planDisney Still Needs Work

Following years of supplication and sometimes derision, the Walt Disney Company finally gave fathers, families and a nation what they have been asking for since its inception – a new name.

planDisney is the label for the retooled Disney Parks Moms Panel, an online resource for Disney vacation planning. Though once comprised of moms and – awkwardly – dads, the name reflects a shift in tone after Disney admitted moms weren’t the only ones planning Disney vacations.

Its previously narrow approach raised the ire of fathers, grandparents, uncles – and not surprisingly – people without children across social media who felt their value as a guest didn’t matter.

With its new, more inclusive term, it doesn’t pretend to cater toward one gender or family class. It now offers an improved approach that concludes vacation planning is conducted by everyone.

Though beyond overdue, Disney still deserves credit for making the switch, even if it was America’s critical eye toward stereotypes that forced its hand.

However, planDisney still needs a lot of work.

plandisney1

Panel diversity

If the panel is a true reflection of Disney Parks guests, the panel is sorely missing the mark. Among its 35 panelists, only four of them are men and all four men are middle-aged. It’s difficult for vacation planners to benefit from expertise from both genders when the balance is that lopsided. Surely males have plenty to lend about the best time of year to visit, how to save money and the best hotels.

What’s more, 28 of the 35 panelists appear to be white. This can’t be representative of America. Movie audiences know that whitewashing is bad, and it’s being done in similar fashion here. Greater diversity would mean different angles from a wider expanse; greater diversity would mean more people would get an opportunity to serve as a panelist and enjoy the incredible perks it brings.

And where are the grandparents? The college-aged young adults? The children? Everyone could gain from their perspective when it comes to planning the vacation of a lifetime. Their viewpoints would be equally valuable for what should be the ultimate trip-planning resource.

It wasn’t ready

One of planDisney’s largest followings resides not on Facebook, but Twitter, where 26,000 people track @DisneyMoms. But planDisney hasn’t transitioned to its new name on Twitter yet.

Working during a pandemic has its shortcomings, but that’s little excuse for a program that should have had every nuance worked out before going live. Besides, social media is where most fans were vocal about the sexist vibe Disney Moms generated.

It not only needs to fix its old name on Twitter, but also graphics and hashtags, along with news of the name change – which would amount to its first tweet in months.

A weird history

Have you read the history on its about us page? It makes no explicit mention of its all-female past – or why it was justified in the first place – until it admits that “the panel also grew to include dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles and more.”

It then strangely concedes, “We know planning a Disney vacation includes everyone…”

Sure, planDisney has a strange evolution, but here’s a tip: there’s no need to rehash it for anyone. Drop the clumsy justification for a sexist past as if it’s a point of pride. planDisney has a clean slate, and it’s time to move on. All is forgiven.

It needs to rewrite this section pronto.

September 10, 2018

Inclusivity wins: Kix phasing out old slogan

Its “Kid-Tested. Mother-Approved” slogan has adorned the box of Kix since 1978, but the famous multinational manufacturer has finally succumbed to the voices of fathers nationwide. General Mills quietly revised its long-standing motto with a new “Kid-Tested. Parent-Approved” saying that adorns its familiar and newly updated yellow Kix box.kix10-e1536595146302.jpg“Kix is excited to announce that we have updated our slogan to ‘Kid-Tested. Parent-Approved,’” said Mike Siemienas, General Mills spokesperson. “This new slogan is more inclusive as the word ‘parent’ applies to the individuals raising children.”

The new era begins after 40 years of proclaiming – through a familiar television commercial jingle – that “Kids love Kix for what Kix has got. Moms love Kix for what Kix has not.” In more recent years, dads regularly took to social media to voice displeasure, but those pleadings went largely unrecognized.

Siemienas said the updated slogan and new box “worked out well” so that both happened at the same time.

General Mills has yet to phase out the slogan entirely. Its Kix page at generalmills.com still trumpets the previous wording, and kixcereal.com not only contains the old slogan, but old box logos. Siemienas added that General Mills is working on updates to company websites.

For now, dads are overwhelmingly pleased with the Kix change. The National At-Home Dad Network – a volunteer-run, nonprofit which provides support, education and advocacy for stay-at-home dads – lauded the change on their Twitter page.

Kix boxes with the old slogan will likely still appear on store shelves, but any new boxes being produced have the new wording, according to Siemienas.

The box revision comes on the heels of a similar switch in the United Kingdom by Kellogg’s after pressure from dads who complained of its exclusionary Coco Pops box.

June 11, 2018

Yogurt needs a marketing makeover

Yogurt is no more a feminine product than a bowl of oatmeal is masculine, but try telling that to your mouth – or your mind.

Product positioning has long labeled yogurt as diet food, which attracts a certain kind of customer. And that customer is typically female – one who tends to be concerned with how she looks to others.yoplait.png

Genderizing a product is really nothing new. The Marlboro Man sold cigarettes to men for decades. Hungry Man dinners and Chunky Soup appeal to men, as well. There are also plenty of other pointlessly gendered products that are sure to draw a chuckle.

Much of it is nonsense. Of course, there’s nothing feminine about milk, cream, fruit and sugar blended into one. Executives are merely trying to target their strongest demographic by positioning products around selling points that appeal to women.

So we know how they do it, and we know why they do it, but a larger question remains: why turn away revenue by ignoring those remaining customers?

The NFL remains one of the most successful American ventures around. It enjoys a varied mix of massive fan interest via huge TV ratings, millions of tickets sold, team apparel, fantasy leagues and its own TV network. The list could go on and on. Let’s also not forget that little game played at the end of the season which has become a cultural phenomenon like no other – the Super Bowl. This event has become far more than just a football game. Super Bowl commercials are a spectacle to behold, achieving status as the most valuable piece of TV marketing real estate in the world.

Yet despite the large focus on advertising, there’s no doubting that football is predominantly a man’s game. There has not been a single female player in the history of the NFL, and this male-dominated business appeals heavily to the masculine side of human nature.

But does that mean females can’t enjoy the game? Does that mean that women can’t be involved in the industry elsewhere? Does that mean women and football don’t belong together? Of course not.nfl2.png

Rather than focus 100 percent of its effort on targeting males even further, the NFL has invested millions in marketing campaigns aimed at women.

Female viewership of the NFL grew by 26 percent from 2009 to 2013, according to Athletic Business, which also said that 53 million women in the U.S. watched the 2015 Super Bowl, almost half the total audience of 114 million.

Couldn’t Yoplait do the same with men and dads in their world? Instead, it touts a #MomOn campaign that squarely ignores the contribution of fathers to raising and nurturing children.yoplait2.jpg

Today’s customers demand inclusion, equality and far less stereotyping. Dads are being left out in a really unfortunate way, and promotions like #MomOn aren’t doing anyone favors, because it also unnecessarily heaps all the responsibility on women.

It’s going to take a little more work than having Cam Newton serve as a spokesperson or slapping “Official Yogurt of the NFL” on cups. And we certainly don’t need more genderized gimmicks like Brogurt. Remember what happened to Lady Doritos?

Yogurt need to be reimagined, because today’s modern family has changed and parenting is shared.

The first yogurt who can figure this out stands to reap tremendously in a confused and oversaturated yogurt industry.

January 17, 2018

McDonald’s ‘Playdate’ commercial plays with old dad stereotype

Can this really be what McDonald’s thinks of today’s modern father?mcdonalds2.png

In one of its latest ads, an “in over (his) head” dad apparently can’t handle a sleepover, nor manage to feed the girls while his wife is out of town — so he visits a McDonald’s.

Judging by reaction from dads on social media, the ad sends not only a message of insensitivity to fathers who supposedly can’t handle children nor prepare food, but it also inadvertently tells moms they’re the primary cooks in the home.

It’s another controversial approach for the fast food giant fresh off the heels of a similar contentious ad also involving fatherhood. Last May, it pulled a United Kingdom commercial after backlash from viewers who insisted it was insensitive to grief-stricken kids. In the ad, a grieving son hears how he and his late father shared a love of Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. McDonald’s promptly removed the ad after 150 people complained.

An email inquiry to the McDonald’s Media Relations Office went unreturned.

In today’s modern world where advertisers are increasingly evolving past “choosy moms” and “mother-approved” slogans, McDonald’s latest message trends backward.

Can’t dad handle a fun sleepover involving five adorably cute girls? Can’t dad manage to feed these girls without his wife being present? Is it necessary that dad needs to call his wife? What message does this ad send to all parents — that moms can be working women as long as they still maintain control at home?

Put another way, would McDonald’s ever run a similar ad with the roles reversed? Imagine the scenario:  a woman realizes she’s in way over her head when her daughter has four friends over for a sleepover and her husband is out of town, which means she has to feed and entertain a group of hyper little girls.

It’s highly unlikely that McDonald’s would go this route.

And that’s the moment you realize an old, timeworn, unfair stereotype has been employed — and you’ve insulted fathers (also your customers) everywhere.

It’s time for change, McDonald’s. Dads deserve better.