The Era of Gentlemen Has Begun

The famous American Super Bowl has in recent years become known not only as a premier sporting competition but also as an unofficial marketing festival where wealthy advertisers compete in creativity. Given that advertising seconds are paid for with dry gold, advertisers strive to present themselves in the best light, and the industry of campaigns prepared for the Super Bowl loves to analyze from the perspective of trends because what the big brands ‘carry’ during the event will be fashionable in the rest of the marketing world.

In February, major players announced the trend of ‘dadvertising’ and ‘ladvertising’, i.e., advertisements that emphasize the role of men in modern families. Just as the industry is slowly realizing that it must stop stereotyping women as hardworking housewives, the way men are portrayed is also slowly changing, as they are no longer the sole breadwinners of the family, modern hunters whose favorite pastime is drinking beer, scratching their bellies, and flipping kebabs on the grill. Modern men, especially fathers, participate differently than before in the functioning of the household, i.e., the family: the differences between what is considered a female role and what is male are becoming less pronounced. International Men’s Day, marked last week to raise awareness about men’s health and gender equality, served as a great opportunity for experts from AOL Be On to highlight campaigns for Marketing Magazine that are exemplary of the increasingly popular ‘dadvertising’.

Neglected Father’s Day At the bottom of their list of the top five ‘dadvertising’ campaigns is a campaign by the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota, which the company launched in Western markets ahead of Father’s Day. It was based on the insight that fathers, or the celebration of their day, are shortchanged compared to Mother’s Day. Specifically, consumers spend seven billion dollars less when celebrating fatherhood than when celebrating motherhood. The ad features several consumers who typically do not celebrate Father’s Day and do not buy gifts, but speak quite emotionally about the role that fathers, their role models, have in their lives. Toyota created the hashtag #OneBoldChoice for this occasion, inviting consumers to thank their fathers for their role on social media. The Dove brand is next on AOL’s list of successful ‘dadvertisers’. The brand based its campaign on the realization that 90 percent of men worldwide believe that caring is an inseparable part of their masculinity and strength. Dove Men+Care therefore attempted to show in the #RealStrength campaign what it looks like when caring is masculine. In the video, small children, as well as adults, call out to their fathers, showing how much they actually rely on and trust them. These wonderful, intimate moments were viewed more than 6.6 million times in a very short time after release, and subsequent research showed that most consumers liked the way Dove, without much pathos, managed to remind consumers of even the smallest, often forgotten moments in life where fathers are a true support to their children.

Two Dads The Campbell Soup Company, which ranks third on the list, decided to break stereotypes about the paternal role in its ‘dadvertising’ campaign, while also redefining the concept of a ‘real’ family, asserting that its products are intended for real life (#RealRealLife). The video opens with a shot of a father feeding his child while singing the theme from ‘Star Wars’ (the spoon ‘plays’ the spaceship). After a few moments, another father enters the scene playing the role of Darth Vader with the line: ‘I’m your father’, to which the other replies: ‘No, I’m your father’. This charming idea effectively and humorously breaks the classic image of the perfect family (a happy father and mother dining with their child) and transforms it into a more realistic, modern one. Just like the Campbell Soup brand, Pot Noodle introduced an element of surprise into its #YouCanMakeIt campaign. Their television spot tells the story of a young man who wants to enter the ring, but not, as viewers might assume, as a boxer. The young man undergoes serious preparations, is endlessly dedicated and persistent, ultimately becoming a ‘ring boy’, a young man who enters the ring during the match carrying numbers that indicate the round number.

Tenderness is Masculinity This advertisement, which AOL placed in a high second place, has nothing to do with fatherhood but rather with breaking imposed social roles. By contrasting the typically male occupation of a boxer with a ‘ring boy’, Pot Noodle aims to convey the message that everyone has the right to choose and encourages consumers, primarily men, to follow their dreams regardless of what society might say about it. And finally, the well-deserved first place, the campaign that AOL declared the best in the category of ‘dadvertising’ or ‘ladvertising’ is ‘Never Alone’ from the cult beer brand Guinness. The campaign was launched ahead of the Rugby World Cup, and its main face is former Wales captain Gareth Thomas. Unlike most beer brands that would play on classic masculinity, i.e., drinking beer amidst noise and cheering in male company, Guinness in ‘Never Alone’ invites men to talk about their emotions, intimate fears, and ailments. In the TV spot, Gareth Thomas speaks about his ‘coming out’ and the feelings of alienation, shame, and loneliness that overwhelmed him after the audience learned that he is gay. Just like Dove, which claims that being caring does not mean being less masculine, Guinness conveys that men could, and should, share intimate thoughts and problems with friends without fear of being less masculine because of it. If judging by the aforementioned campaigns and consumption trends (men, for example, are increasingly buying household supplies), the true era of ‘ladvertising’ is just beginning. Marketers face a tough task because, in addition to finally stopping the stereotyping of women (mothers, queens) in their advertisements, it is time to pay attention to men, who today are far from the image we could see in episodes of ‘Mad Men’ – cold, stern, and somewhat distant breadwinners of the family.