Huggies' 'Dad Test' Commercials: Offensive or Harmless?
SodaHead Living
2012/03/19 21:39:50
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Dads aren't as clueless as they used to be. That's what hundreds of outraged dads are saying in response to Huggies' "Have Dad Put Huggies To The Test" campaign, which depicts them as irresponsible parents who are so distracted by watching sports on TV that they neglect to properly change their babies' diapers.
The ads were meant "to demonstrate the performance of our Huggies diapers and baby wipes in real life situations" -- but real dads were insulted. Chris Routly, a full-time stay-at-home father from Lehigh Valley, Penn., was so offended by the ads that he started a "We’re Dads, Huggies. Not Dummies" petition, which received more than 1,000 signatures in less than a week.
"Dads were being put to the test, not the diapers," said Routly, according to ABC News. "I was disappointed; they tried to do right by dads, but played up the stereotype while claiming to celebrate fatherhood." Huggies' parent company, Kimberly-Clark, has already made changes "to better reflect the true spirit of the campaign," and the videos have been taken off Huggies’ Facebook page and replaced with ads featuring doting dads. Do you think Huggies was playing to tired stereotypes? Or just joking around?
"Dads were being put to the test, not the diapers," said Routly, according to ABC News. "I was disappointed; they tried to do right by dads, but played up the stereotype while claiming to celebrate fatherhood." Huggies' parent company, Kimberly-Clark, has already made changes "to better reflect the true spirit of the campaign," and the videos have been taken off Huggies’ Facebook page and replaced with ads featuring doting dads. Do you think Huggies was playing to tired stereotypes? Or just joking around?
Top Opinion
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Flea 2012/03/20 13:52:50Offensive
+9It's because the only people that are now allowed to be made fun of and ridiculed in commercials are white men. God forbid you should make fun of a white woman, a black man, or Hispanic woman in a commercial, saying they were slovenly housekeepers, unfit neglectful parents, etc. etc.. - "sexist" and "racist" would be screamed the second the commercial aired. If I was a white man, I'd be pissed, too. It's getting old.
Painting men as incompetent at taking care of their babies also harms women, because it gives men a free pass to just not try... and guess who that leaves to pick up the slack?
Taking the piss out of the white male is old.
Do this to a black guy or woman and stand back as there will be a tsunami of complaints. Minority campaigners are like toads, small, rare but bloody loud
In our politically correct society, the opportunity for "acceptable" stereotype jokes are becoming fewer and fewer. Let's lighten up a bit and enjoy a joke for what it is - a joke.
I'm just as against political correctness as anyone, but my husband was right when he said that there's a lot of stuff on TV that basically depicts men as clueless morons. The Huggies ads were just the latest example.
I'm guessing you wouldn't like that one too much, though.
Like I said, people are too sensitive.
Huggies pulled the ads, so even they were basically admitting that they were doing wrong by the millions of great dads out there. But I guess Huggies was wrong and you're right.