Chris Routly of Daddy Doctrines once again forces marketers to address outdated male stereotypes engendered by misguided ad campaigns and to reconsider dads’ real and vital roles in modern society.
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Editor’s Note: Earlier this week, in an attempt at humor, Clorox ran an ad called “6 Mistakes New Dads Make.” To be fair, there are a lot more mistakes made by any new parent–parenting is a lifelong learning process. But the ad was more offensive than funny, and Chris Routly of Daddy Doctrines took exception. In 2012, Routly stumbled into becoming an “accidental activist” when he spearheaded the successful petitioning of a major diaper brand to revamp an offensive ad campaign, and has continued to engage with brands wanting to better reflect and connect with modern dads ever since. Jokes about a “Routly Scale” of outrage have even been adopted by certain dad blogger groups in which he participates. Below is the original post from Daddy Doctrines, and here is the report by CNN’s Josh Levs.
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I get sent a lot of links to various and sundry incidents where a brand has stepped over the line when it comes to their depiction of fatherhood. Believe it or not, I post about very few of them.
But today a new article on the official Clorox webpage entitled “6 Mistakes New Dads Make” [*It has now been pulled, but here’s a Google cache version*] was brought to my attention, and I just can’t stay quiet about it.
It starts off with a bang:
Saying ‘No-no’ is not just for baby. Like dogs or other house pets, new Dads are filled with good intentions but lacking the judgment and fine motor skills to execute well. Here are a few dangerous no-nos new Dads might make, and some training tips.
No, you did not read that wrong.
Clorox — or some poor social media intern who, at this point used to work for Clorox — actually wrote those words. Dads are like dogs. Well-meaning, but dumb and unable to complete basic tasks.
It continues, listing these “mistakes new dads make,” which are, briefly, as follows:
- Forgetting to dress the baby in weather appropriate clothing
- Putting what clothing he remembers on backwards
- Using the TV as a babysitter while he enjoys a beer
- Forgetting to clean the baby
- Letting baby eat off floor
- Taking the baby to casinos
The post, unbelievably, expounds on these points, but you get the idea. Each of them is so stupid, there is no point in even addressing them specifically, but I will say many of us are already having a laugh about the casino thing. “Sorry, Routly, I would complain to Clorox about that thing, but I’m too busy betting on red. The baby LOVES it when I bet on red!”
Okay so, look, this isn’t some grand Clorox ad campaign. This isn’t the result of a whole bunch of marketing people putting their heads together about a great way to include dads, and failing spectacularly. It’s a dumb blog post (that is failing spectacularly at being funny, I assume), probably written by the same person who thinks that it’s funny to say things like “One thing teenage boys (and let’s be honest, teenage men) can’t seem to master is the tushy wipe.”.
But no matter who wrote it, and why, Clorox has its name on it, and Clorox needs to know that this sort of thing is Not Okay. It’s Not Okay on a new level that might actually make it qualify as a new strain of What-Where-You-Thinking disease.
I imagine that the post will be gone before long [*Update: It has now been pulled*]. But before it goes, please join me in letting Clorox know that we, the families who live here in the 21st century, expect better than this:
Addendum!
If anyone from Clorox is reading this, I want you to know why I feel like this is worth calling out, beyond just its obvious awfulness. And that reason is simple:
I know you know better.
I know you know better because I’ve seen the carefully crafted ads that you’ve produced that try to recognize dads as user of your products, who might be goofy, but at least aren’t idiots. I know you know better because I’ve seen you engage with some of the brightest voices in the dad-sphere on campaigns that seek to include dads into the picture in a positive way. I know you know better because you are a company made up of people who are moms and dads that know better what modern families look like.
So this isn’t about asking you to be something you’re not, or get on board with a way of thinking about dads that is foreign to you. It’s about asking to to live up to what and who you say you are.
Update!
Some time after the post was taken down, the official Clorox twitter account contacted me to say the following:
What do you think? Is this just an attempt to be funny that “may have gone too far”?
More importantly, with the offending post gone, what would you like to see Clorox do better in the future when it comes to dads (and men in general) in their marketing?
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—for more on other Dumb Dumb Dad Ads, check out:
—for ads that got dads right, check out:
Google Chrome Ad Highlights Awesome Father-Daughter Bond
The Conversation About Dads Keeps Getting Bigger
I think that they are trying to sell a boring product to women and they have realised that putting shit on men is one way to get an emotional connection going.
While this is the one that went far enough to get a reaction, if you look at the other things they have produced and even the next thing they shared on Facebook (6 Stains Your Teen Makes) it seems obvious that it is part of the corporate culture at Clorox that men are just another child that moms have to deal with. I think the question for Clorox is are they just trying to reach women or are they trying to reach the growing number of men who are doing household shopping? If it is the later then I think… Read more »
Well guess what? All of you have just boosted the effectiveness of that add. (and so have I by comenting) There is no such thing as bad advertising since even the bad ads get as much responce as good ads. No matter what the point is if people remember it then it is effective. So all of you commenting on this and being so pissed just proves how well this ad worked. Not only that but you have given Clorox even more power since now they will come out and say,, ooops sorry folks… what can we do to make… Read more »
Ken, can’t argue with your logic, but I’m not sure that is the point here. By your logic, an ad would be even more effective if it dropped the “N” word, or disparaged Islam…imagine how many people would be talking about Clorox then! The point is, I think, that Dads are a “safe” group to make fun of, and get a bad rap in our cultural consciousness. Just my two cents, for what it’s worth.
Wrong ken, the ad got taken down.
It is offensive, if they’d written that about a new mum there would be a huge public outcry. Adverts showing Dads/Men as very Homer Simpson idiots with good intentions and the long suffering wife/family degrade men are everywhere at the moment. It seems like the advertising agencies have got stuck with something that CAN be funny but also can be quite offensive. Not all men are like that, it teaches people that all men are idiots and you have to spell things out VERY bluntly to them all the time
Oh, I’m sure it was intended to be funny. And the Swiffer ad that portrayed Rosie the Riveter with a mop to “subtly” tell women their real word was keeping a clean house was meant to be empowering.
Meaning to be funny isn’t the problem. The problem is what these sexist morons think is funny.
I don’t think it’s intentionally offensive; I think it was probably intended as more a sort of affectionate Homer Simpson-style image of the lovable bumbling oaf. It is tiring though cause that image seems to be everywhere now.
I just Wikipedia-ed Clorox and saw some insane examples of previous sexist ads. Companies just need to learn that stereotypes don’t work for marketing. I mean, the entire marketing world is based on stereotypes, and on targeting very specific group, and that targeting is based on stereotypes, but the use of stereotypes should not reach the consumers, you know?
Man, where do I start? My instinctual reaction is to take offense and get angry. My evolved brain tells me this is just noise that doesn’t affect me, or how my wife and kids feel about me. They know what a competent, successful, husband and father I am. And that is all that matters. One or more people at Clorox made a bad decision, to use a negative stereotype in advertising their product. Maybe it was intended to be funny, maybe viewed as harmless. I guess it is okay to make fun of fathers. But what if an ethnic or… Read more »