There’s a lot of talk about equality these days, and with good reason. Exclusion is on the rise. People are being left out. Groups are ignored.
It’s no wonder that the mega, multi-national consumer goods corporation P&G started a #WeSeeEqual campaign, a push well-timed in today’s society of #MeToo and #TimesUp.
The campaign aims for a world free of gender bias that offers equal representation and voices for both women and men. It’s a powerful message that deserves praise and attention. Frankly, it’s hard to argue with or dispute any of its pleas. You can debate a lot of things in life, but equality isn’t one of them – it’s necessary and needed in a world filled with exclusion.
But the campaign runs a bit contradictory when compared to another P&G effort, “Thank You Mom,” which resurfaces during each Olympics, as it did again during last month’s Winter Games. In it, we see an effort aimed at celebrating just one half of the parenting duo.
It’s one thing to market to a certain segment – as it’s doing with the “Mom” promotion – but another to want it both ways, as P&G emphatically implores us that “a world free from gender bias is a better world for all.”
Imagine what sports-loving dads were thinking when they watched regular nightly exclusion during the 17-day PyeongChang Games, as only mothers were thanked for helping athletes achieve their dreams. Meanwhile, these same dads would simultaneously encounter the #WeSeeEqual declaration, and another occasional P&G effort, #LoveOverBias – both exhorting humanity to treat everyone equally. Everyone, that is, except customers.
These conflicting messages aren’t just confusing, they’re actually illogical; it’s impossible to pair the word “equality” with brands that concurrently exclude fathers, but P&G has indeed done the impossible.
Media writers have praised the effort of #WeSeeEqual – and rightly so. On its own, it’s an incredibly commendable campaign and well-executed. But there’s no denying the mixed message it sends to dads and the parenting community.
If equality is going to mean something, the corporate world needs a genuine effort with a real, authentic backing – in word and in deed.
Otherwise a company is just selling products on a shelf, not a mission.
And yet, every so often we encounter an organization who Gets It, who realizes that dads matter every bit to the parenting world as moms – and the idea speaks to dads, and markets to them, and listens to them. Suddenly, dads matter and are valued as true parents and customers.
dadmarketing 