| Issue: | 29,2005 | Page: | 16-17 |
|
Abstract |
Fathers in advertising |
| Keywords: | Fathers, media |
We’ve
all seen commercials on television that depict
fathers as bumbling idiots around babies. That was then, but have thing
got any
better?
Hugh
Joughin
takes a look.
I don’t watch a lot of television.
Can’t stand the thing most times, and it really annoys me when
households just
have it on every evening as a background distraction. The university
radio
station RDU brought out a bumper sticker a few years ago with the
slogan “Kill
your television”. I liked that sticker, but was not allowed to stick it
on the
back windscreen of our car. I guess the word “kill” is a wee bit over
the top,
particularly on a car that is capable of doing just that.
Anyway, for the sake of this article
I chose not only to watch
a bit of screen (television that is), but pay
particular interest to the most annoying bits. So with remote in hand
(for
channel hopping purposes), I committed myself to some fairly intensive
television viewing and watched hundreds and hundreds of
commercials, keenly looking for positive depictions of fathers. However, I soon found myself keenly
looking for any depictions of
fathers at all. The old adage of not working with animals or children
seems to
still be relevant today. Reinforcing traditional gender roles are of
course
advertising’s great domain.
Women still feature strongly in the kitchen
and laundry extolling products, and blokes do all the outside stuff
involving
power tools (I really wish “Cocksy” from the Placemakers ads would
think of an
alternative, perhaps more original nickname). In
the wonderful world of commercials, kids still
come home to Mum more often than not.
Overall, the ad agencies don’t seem
to be too interested in families, much less parents, much less fathers.
I noted
with interest that there are as many grandparent/grandchild (usually
male) as
parent/child situations in commercials, perhaps to do with the gradual
aging of
the population. Remember
the ad for “Worthers Original”
lollies a few years ago, or the 60+ insurance schemes?
These commercials came
complete with cute, doting grandchildren who naturally
did all the right things.
Therefore the following is a
short list of advertisements brave enough to venture into the realm of
parenting.
1. Fisher
&
Pykel. The latest campaign features snippets
of people around the world using appliances and, if you look closely
enough, you do see a father holding a baby while trying to cook dinner
in the
microwave. Unfortunately it looks as though he is failing miserably at
both
tasks; in
fact it almost looks as though he might be
ready to actually put the baby in microwave and have it for the main
course.
Modern appliances are supposed to make life easier, but this guy just
doesn’t
seem to get it. That tired old cliché about men doing two
jobs at the same time springs to mind. The message-men
aren’t too crash hot in the kitchen, or with babies.
2. New World
Supermarkets. Father goes shopping with
his young son (a natural successor to the mother and daughter of a few
years
ago. You know, she left the daughter in the trolley at the checkout).
And
surprise surprise, this father is totally incapable of doing a
“sensible shop”
and actually getting everything that is required. He’s a classic
impulsive
buyer who gets six items from the lady at the
promotions stand. Once again, he doesn’t have a clue, which is
confirmed when
he gets home and has to face a disbelieving female partner. The message-blokes can’t food shop. (In a rather spooky footnote to this, I found myself doing
the food
shopping at New World St.Martins the very day after I first saw this
advertisement. I had my youngest daughter with me, who has the habit of
racing
into the supermarket to look at the flower stall near the front door as
I get
the trolley. As I walked in, the lady at the flower stall said to her
“So,
where is your Mummy then?!”).
3. Holden
Commodore SV6.
Yet another father and son
combination. With so much petrol-headed testosterone swirling around, what
else would you expect?
4. State
insurance. Father and son (ho hum) playing
cricket and end up breaking a window which is not particularly original.
5. “Karicare”
baby formula.
One of the worst.
This father is totally incompetent, and is portrayed as completely
infant
illiterate. (This
product shouldn’t
be advertised anyway – breaking the ethics of the World Health
Organisation
code, but this
is another story altogether).
6. “Playskool”
ride on/scooter. Lots of energetic young
children, with lots of mums
and not a father in sight. The message-women, not
men, look after the kids.
7. Cobb &
co. Big family group eating out and having
fun, with the caption “Mum & co”. Strange seeing how
probably most, if not all, the chefs out the back are male.
8. “Literacy
network”. Quite a new advertisement promoting
the benefits of reading to children. An initiative supported (and
possibly
funded) by “The Warehouse”, it is the only depiction I saw of a father
engaging
with children in a really positive non sporting way. The use of an
‘ideal’
family of two boys and one girl was interesting, but I don’t want to be
too
picky. Also interesting to note the involvement of The Warehouse, who
are very
family friendly in their advertising (particularly in print). As
previously
stated in Father and Child magazine issue 23, they are also just about the
only company who show fathers and daughters during the run up to
Fathers day. The verdict-definitely
the pick of the bunch. (The butter ads of a few
years ago, which featured Dads
reading “Hairy McLary” books to their kids at bedtime was also good).
Idiotic males
department. A special mention must be made of “Mr.
Muscle” floor cleaner. O.K.
So not a father figure but hey, there is
a man doing the household cleaning, but why does
he have to
be portrayed as a complete moron and the world’s
biggest power dweeb. “Spray And Wipe” kind of
counters
this with their very own singing, manic, female cleaning person, but do
two
wrongs make a right? Also,
AMI Insurance had a series of ads recently which portrayed a totally
incompetent male driver.
Sick children
are overwhelmingly nursed by mothers in television commercials. From
Vicks
Vaporub to cough medicines, it’s the same old story. There’s an
American ad
(that I saw on one of those dreadful shows about foreign ads) for a
cough
lotion that shows a man in a business suit getting his kids ready for
school.
The house resembles a refuse station with general disarray and mayhem,
with
laundry overflowing and food all over the kitchen. It’s snowing
outside, but
the kids are about to leave for school in shorts and T shirts. It then
shows
poor Mum in bed with a cold. Traditional gender reinforcement at its
very
worst. Only in America! Let’s hope that commercial never reaches our
shores.
Print
advertising is even worse, with the already mentioned exception of The
Warehouse. Have a look through all the parenting magazines. I challenge
you to
find a
father portrayed
in the advertisements. Most big department stores do
not venture outside the norm. Mothers and daughters promote the
domestic stuff,
and fathers and sons do all the sporty and outdoor pursuit things.
It would be
great to see advertisers broaden the scope of gender roles. Fathers are getting more and
more recognition in society as perfectly competent parents. However,
they are
still being portrayed too often as a token parent, or a plaything for
children.
And the bumbling Dad is certainly still out there in television land.
The roles
of men and women in the home have undoubtedly changed significantly
over the
past few decades, but the advertising media is falling woefully short
in
reflecting this change. Take a look at the annoying bits next time
you’re
watching some mindless rubbish, and make up your own mind.