In ads, dads are always dumb jocks

Posted: Thursday, July 23, 2009 6:00 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under: TV commercials

I understand that commercials have a short amount of time to deliver their message. But really, do they have to fall back on stereotypes quite so often?

Dads are doofuses, at least according to commercials.

If there's a dad in a commercial, he's almost always a doofus with a smarter wife who smiles benevolently at him when he does something dumb. (See also: "According to Jim.") Dads in commercials like sports, TV, barbecuing and sitting on couches. They're often chubby. Example? This dad in the Verizon ad, who pours all the ice-cream sprinkles (jimmies, to some of you) on the tiny cup of ice cream.

If there's a woman in a commercial, she loves shoes and shopping, kids and chocolate. It practically goes without question that she's a mom. Even if her kids seem to be pushing 20, she herself never appears older than 35. She often has a gaggle of giggling girlfriends who wear snazzy outfits even to the playground. She and her girlfriends are never overweight. Example? Actress Dori Kelly gets a sticker stuck on her rump in this GLAH-DAY (Glade) commercial.

If there are single people in ads, they are always having the time of their life. They dance the night away, take cruises to exotic ports of call and spend hours drinking colorful drinks in bars, although they don't get drunk. They're never lonely.

Babies are adorable and never have colic or tantrums. Kids are cute and freckled and use words that are way too advanced for their age. Almost everyone lives in a giant house in the suburbs with a huge front lawn. (Unless they're farmers, in which case they always wear denim overalls and are constantly riding a tractor.) Everyone has a kitchen that's bigger than my first apartment, with a giant marble center island. No one rents. Grandparents always have adorable puffs of white hair and want nothing more than to bake cookies or go fishing with their grandkids. No one over 60 has a job.

These stereotypes are part of why I really wanted to like the Liberty Mutual ad series we discussed earlier, with the Marlowes. Say what you will about these odd ads, at least the people in them aren't stereotypes. (Growly voiced dad who had to take a pay cut? Goofy grandpa who keeps wandering off? The kid who wears a costume to dinner?)

I'm not saying that we need commercials to be Debbie Downers and portray the dark side of life all the time. They're selling a product, I get that, and they don't want to bum us out. But how about a little nuance once in a while? How about a person or family I might recognize as real?

What stereotypes have you seen over and over again in commercials? Discuss them in the comments.

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