Dads in ads: The changing ways brands are portraying dads in advertising

This paper examines the increasing focus that brands seem to be giving to father figures in advertising, a trend partly due to the general shift in family roles of recent years.

Dads in ads: The changing ways brands are portraying dads in advertising

Anne Field

As consumers redefine what it means to be a good father, brands are changing the ways in which they portray dads in advertising.

While Super Bowl XLIX, this past February, will be remembered as one of the greatest, the event also launched the year of "dadvertising" – commercials that feature strong, caring, thoughtful fathers instead of the usual bumbling dolts.

Toyota had a tear-jerker in which a dad, with his daughter beside him in a Camry, remembers various times he courageously came to her aid. It...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands