Budweiser, you blew it. You had a perfect chance to build brand loyalty among a demographic who could certainly use a cold beer now and again.

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As you may already know, a video titled the World’s Toughest Job went viral recently. It was made by a major greeting card company to celebrate Mother’s Day. (The second of the two videos above.) At this point it has been viewed 14 million times. In this video, real folks were interviewed for an incredibly difficult job. The job required 135 plus hours a week, pays nothing, requires you stay on your feet all day long and so on. After the interviewees spend a few minutes being shocked that anyone would do a job like this, they were informed that millions do this job every day. “Moms”.

Dads were not mentioned. Stay at Home dads were definitely not mentioned. So, the video’s makers seem to feel to that women raise children and men do not. I won’t belabor the obvious, but NPR reports men are primary care givers in huge numbers.

Yes, I realize its for Mother’s Day. But the narrative is just too one sided. Mom’s raise kids. They do the world’s toughest job.

I’d like to think we’re going to move past this kind of sarcasm about dads, but so far, no dice.

Now we have this humor piece from Budweiser created to spoof the World’s Toughest Job video. It’s another lazy, sloppy contribution to the conversation by a national brand that didn’t do its marketing homework.

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It seems like this video is meant to appeal to men and women who find the whole conversation amusing. It cynically positions itself as above it all. What it doesn’t do is credit men for being anything in the family but goofballs. I’d like to think we’re going to move past this kind of sarcasm about dads, but so far, no dice. Is this piece so over the top sarcastic that its actually skewering the idea that dads are useless? I don’t see it. The only hint we get of that, is that it is a send up of the original video. But beyond that single marker, it seems to laugh it up about men on every measure of parenting competence.

Humor about dads, doesn’t have to be a put down about dads. Budweiser, tell your multi-million dollar agency to get a clue.

C’mon Budweiser, wake up. Men of this generation don’t aspire to lay on the couch, drink beer and laugh about how screwed up we are as parents. Budweiser missed a chance to tell a much more nuanced and much funnier comedy story here. One in which dads and moms could both feel good about being full time parents even as they stumble through sleepless nights and PTA meetings. Being a full time parent is weird and challenging and fun and yes, exhausting, and happening all over the place to men and women alike.

Bud, you blew it. You had a chance to build brand loyalty among a demographic who could certainly use a cold beer now and again. Note to corporate marketing departments across the globe: Humor about dads, doesn’t have to be a put-down about dads. Tell your multi-million dollar agency to ditch the Mr. Mom cliches and join us in this century.

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