Month: January 2013

I was sitting watching an episode of The Bachelor (don’t judge me) and saw a cute Huggies baby wipes commercial targeting new dads where they were “put to the test” with everyday child care duties. I thought it would be a good topic to touch upon, but once researching into it a bit more was surprised to find a lot of negative feedback behind them! Huggies has received a lot of backlash in the last year over their “Dad Test” marketing campaign. Dads saying “we’re dads, Huggies, not dummies” are very offended by these commercials targeting the father figures, with titles such as “Spaghetti night with dad”, “Easy-Chair” and “Speed Change with Dad”. I found the commercial very light, funny and charming, surprised by all the backlash they have received. In my opinion, Huggies was obviously trying to make fun of the stereotype that dads don’t take part in the “dirty work” of taking care of a baby, highlighting the dads actually having fun together and seemingly enjoying themselves. Are dads being too sensitive over these commercials or did Huggies really go too far? Take a look at the ads and decide for yourself!

When I think of Marketing the first thing that comes to mind is Advertising and the process behind encouraging consumers to choose a product/service over others that would provide the same need or want. When it comes to advertising, there have been many examples over the years that have been very controversial within the media. Advertisements have been referred to as a job interview with millions of people at once, where you don’t assume a false identity, but probably don’t make a full disclosure (http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3001). But how far is too far? And what is the difference between direct media advertisement versus product placement in movies by characters people admire? There has always been controversy behind advertising items that can potentially be harmful to ones health or lifestyle, such as cigarettes, alcohol and gambling. In North America today, direct cigarette advertising does not occur anymore like it did previously. However, product placement in the media, especially blockbuster movies promoting the “cool” factor of smoking is more prevalent than ever. For example, the multi-million dollar grossing moving Skyfall, the most recent James Bond movie, has over 20 smoking incidences in which the sleek and sexy characters are smoking cigarette after cigarette. According to a study published in the journal Paediatrics in 2012 claims that for every 500 smoking scenes a child sees in PG-13 movies increases the likelihood of that child trying cigarettes increases by 49% (http://news.health.com/2012/12/10/worst-movie-for-smoking/). In my opinion, this form of subtle advertising is way more influential, especially for a younger generation. In these cases, what makes the product placement of these harmful products in “cool” movies such as James Bond any less controversial than directly advertising in a “cool” ad in the media?

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