DADS in ADS!

Once upon a time, Dads on TV and in print were mostly a joke.  Give the baby to Dad to diaper, and he's going to diaper its head.  Ask Dad to cook, and he's going to summon the fire departments of four neighboring towns.  

Times are changing, though.  The stereotyped Dad of the 1950s is becoming more and more a relic, and it's refreshing to see these involved Dads, the Gator Dads, reflected in advertising.  Some Dads are intimidated by the criticism they receive when they try a task they've never been involved in before, and do it wrong.  But I think seeing fathers getting it right on TV is a powerful inducement to men to dive in and be involved.

I've selected a few ads where I feel the advertisers are celebrating the role of fathers.  (note: no compensation was involved—I just think that if we celebrate positive depictions in ads, we get more positive depictions).  The one that really gets me is this, from Toyota:

Obrigado por assistirem, se gostaram do vídeo cliquem em gostei, se quiserem assistir mais vídeos sobre carros, inscrevam-se no canal. Tem vídeo novo todas as terças às 11h (Só Comerciais)! Quer assistir comparativos de carros, então acesse: www.youtube.com/GVComparativos Você gosta de sociologia, acesse esse site: www.discussaosociologica.blogspot.com.br O Senhor não nos deixa esquecer as suas maravilhas; ele é bondoso e compassivo.

The ad for Pantene's "Strong is Beautiful" campaign shows NFL players trying to style their daughters' hair. SUBSCRIBE to GMA ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH1oRy1dINbMVp3UFWrKP0w/subscribe To read the full story and others, visit http://www.goodmorningamerica.com Good Morning America (GMA) brings viewers an award-winning combination of breaking news, exclusive investigations, hard hitting interviews, weather forecasts, cutting edge medical field information, and financial reporting every morning.

Appearing during the Super Bowl, the "Dad-Do" campaign shows a number of NFL players doing their daughters' hair, and reinforcing the idea that a Dad who's present in his daughter's life will help to create a strong young woman.

Share what #RealStrength means to you: https://www.youtube.com/user/dovemencareus/RealStrength/ 90% of men around the world say that their caring side is part of their masculinity and strength. Dove Men+Care acknowledges the caring side of men and celebrates their #RealStrength as a true sign of masculinity.

The Dove "Men Care" campaign is inspiring.

Galaxy's Best Dads. Campbell's Star Wars Inspired Soups. Made for real, real life. #RealRealLife

The Campbell's #RealRealLife campaign shows two Dads.  Groundbreaking, and controversial, it depicts a kind of fatherhood which is rarely seen on TV, but which exists in the real world.