Father Knows Least

         

"Gee, how does any of this work?"

      Fathers have been given a bad rap in the media for the past couple decades or so, increasingly in the past few years. Time after time, I can see advertisement after advertisement of portrayals of clueless men trying desperately to fix a wild situation that does not seem to make any sense. Take the picture above. The man shown in this Clorox disinfectant wipes commercial, titled One Husband and a Baby, appears extremely flustered and is trying his absolute hardest to get this elaborate mess sorted out before his wife comes home and he feels her unholy wrath. I'm sure we have all seen a commercial like this, and my discourse touches on how and why men (and especially men with families) seem to be characterized as highly incompetent.
      Some people, such as Kevin B. O'Neill of MediaWeek, say that all these silly dad commercials can be seen as retribution for all those years of mothers being portrayed in the media as "happy, obsessive housewives." O'Neill also says that dumb dads sell products better, and are more popular; An example he gave in an article was that of two famous TV dads of the 80's/90's: Al Bundy, of Married... With Children fame, who was a surly, foolish individual and Cliff Huxtable of The Cosby Show, a responsible, intelligent, respectable father. While both enjoyed incredible success in their time, Al Bundy succeeded in outlasting Cliff Huxtable on the nation's TV screens. This can be seen as evidence of what "sells" to individuals.
      However, lately, there has been an influx of advertisements that salvage the image of fathers and fatherhood, and that is what I analyzed in great detail for my discourse paper. One advertisement is one for General Mills' Peanut Butter Cheerios, called #HowToDad, and it shows fatherhood at its best. Not overly dramatized, nor exaggerated to any degree, this commercial showed a day in the life of a typical, average American father, and how he helps prepare his family every morning. He gets woken up by his son and is dragged out of bed; he then does the same to his oldest son; his youngest daughter gets to ride on his shoulders; and in all, he acts as his childrens' friend AND mentor. He gets on their level and makes them comfortable around him, as he is their buddy, but he also gives out sage advice when he feels it necessary. That is what fatherhood is all about.