P&G, Procter and Gamble, IGNORE Dads in Their Olympics Commercials

Category: Weekly Columns

Excuse me? P&G has been airing a ton of commercials during The Olympics in which they portray the wonderful support moms give their athlete kids. And, they do. BUT, so do the dads. Maybe, just maybe, even as much as the moms. Maybe, gulp, even more?

A non-parent friend of mine was watching The Olympics and saw one of these mom-ads from P&G. His first reaction was, “Gee, I assume the next one will celebrate how dads contribute to their kid’s athletic pursuits.” Nope, never happened. He was as stunned as I was.

Isn’t it time we recognize that BOTH parents these days are involved in raising OUR kids? Yes, sometimes it’s the moms who are more active but sometimes it’s the dads. And, to take a sexist stereotype, wouldn’t dads be as least or maybe even more interested in being involved in their kid’s sports endeavors?

I’m an Olympics junkie and really enjoyed watching the women’s gymnastics team win the gold. Did you see how Aly Raisman’s mom AND dad were so fully involved, excited, anxious, and lovingly there for their daughter. Mom AND dad! Hello @ProcterGamble.

Funny...it looks like mom AND dad to me!?

I’ve never gotten on the bandwagon of complaints about dads portrayal by brands and advertisers, but this time I can’t sit idly by and watch this go on. Procter and Gamble, you OWE us dads not only an apology but equal time.

PLEASE let @ProcterGamble know how you feel about this! Tomorrow night’s #DadChat is coincidentally all about The Olympics and Sports – join us and let’s get out the word about P&G to MILLIONS! I will also be talking about this – passionately – on my radio show tomorrow!

UPDATE: @ProcterGamble sent this tweet to me and I do believe this commercial is great. I told them so, but asked about the number of those in the rotation, since I’ve watched a LOT of The Olympics and not seen it, but had seen a whole bunch of the moms ones:

So, the dads get shaving commercials … I get it. Let’s reinforce those gender stereotypes!

Second UPDATE: I invited @ProcterGamble to join us at #DadChat. They didn’t show up. The discussion was quite spirited. Here’s the transcript. And, it seems that commercial they referenced isn’t airing at ALL in The Olympics. Why don’t they just “own” that they dropped the ball!