"Dadvertising" Had Triplets

Nope, the title is not a typo. "Dadvertising" is the newly-coined term that refers to advertisements that are specifically targeting dads. Three recent examples (shown below) aired during the coveted Super Bowl timeouts spots just this past Sunday.  With the wide range of creative ideas that we witnessed in the commercials that night, I could help but think how interesting it was that different companies, with different products chose to market themselves so similarly. I wondered how they all managed to arrive at these nearly identical concepts. Obviously the answer lies in very detailed and focused research.

Economic trends are shaping societal trends. As it become more commonplace for women and men to both be working, it means that there is a balance in the how parents share household duties such as cleaning, grocery shopping, taking the kids to school, etc. For example, grocery stores are marketing more to men now as research shows a trend of men taking over that responsibility.  

All in all the roll of the father is ultimately changing. In commercial advertising, fathers are no longer the butt of a 'dumb-dad' joke.  As Dove, Toyota, and Nissan illustrated, fathers are much more involved. The ads show dads participating in the birth of their newborn, consoling their crying toddler, and hugging their daughters. Though the subjects are dads, these commercials also have surprisingly strong affect on women and moms as well. As a result, I believe advertisers are finding that this new way of marketing to men through 'dadvertising' reaches a much wider audience in a much stronger way. 

If you compare the above commercials to your typical Carls Jr. (see below) or GoDaddy ad, I think men (and especially women) would find a 'dadvertisement' that showcases the importance of family and love to be much more heartwarming, memorable and affective.