So, in the brief almost week or so i've spent puppy sitting, I've come to appreciate my access to live TV since its not something I normally get to indulge in. Truth be told its also a nice distraction as I bike and try to transform my behind into a marvel of fantastic firmness.
During one of my rather short jaunts on their elliptical machine (ellipticals make my feet go numb around 10 mins in so I can't spend much time on them) I decided to turn the TV on as I switched to the bike and I caught a few commercials that made me do a double take... Not to buy their product, but rather I noticed something I feel is truly profound in how business are looking at our economy and their bottom lines.
As I sat on the bike and petaled away watching a re-run of Bones I saw this commercial for Go-Gurt. It took forever to find it so thank you Betty Crocker's Videos for posting this via facebook (Here's the link). Please take the few seconds to watch it before continuing...
I'll wait... its okay.... Did you notice anything different apart from another sugary snack food product being marketed for purchase? Well I'll tell you what I notice...
The dad... is packing his son lunch to take to school... ?!?!?!?!?!?!
In every commercial in my entire life I have never seen a "father" figure packing a lunch... Now before we start in on how its incredibly sexist for me to mention these stereotypical marketing roles that the "world" and "media" portray as normal, I'm just going to say i'm a "big women are equal" kind of gal and i'm also really okay and fine with a man being a stay at home dad.
With that being said, what I am pointing out is that "society at large" has always dictated the "mother figure" as the family organizer... the maker of lunches, the folder of laundry, and the wiz of the household cleaners... until now.
Normally, marketing directors and sales teams target any house hold cleaning product or snack time treats towards women because 90% of the time they make those shopping decisions and are most likely to be when those commercials run... and lets face it, they generally are the ones in charge of packing lunch so there are healthy items in there and not just junk...
But not here in this commercial... There is even a note from his wife saying "Hon, don't forget the Go-Gurt...." So where is mom??? My guess is working....
I'd guess that retailers and product manufacturers have finally realized that in todays economy, "Mom" isn't necessarily the one sitting at home doing the dishes or getting the kiddos ready for school when the unemployment rate of our nation is 9.1 (California 12%) and a large portion of people who have lost their jobs are indeed men (since they made up a most of the work force to begin with) ....
And now I'll give you epiphany number 2:
Yup, the commercial was aimed at making the "Basic" appear affordable and capable of getting the job better than the cheaper versions sold in stores... Here's the link
Why????
Because a lot of people have been buying generic and passing over the lesser advertised Charmin-Basic for the store brand... But is it me or is it weird to see a cartoon bear tell her son he can't have the frosted cereal?
Anyone else realize any rather interesting marketing changes?
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