Moms are emotional wrecks and dads are emotionally-challenged when it comes to watching their kids head back to class.
At least that’s the message I’ve garnered from viewing the slew of recent back-to-school commercials that have saturated the airwaves in the last couple of weeks.
Who comes up with these stereotypical ads? And why promote the cliche?
I’m referring specifically to one of the most popular back-to-school commercials EVAH! It features an overjoyed dad frolicking through a Staples store to the strains of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” The dad is far from emotionless; rather, he is absolutely bursting with delight at the prospect of his kids returning to school. Happy dad turns staplers into finger cymbals and rides a shopping cart like a scooter all while his kids look on with sour faces that only reveal a fraction of the disgust they feel for their crazed parent.
Then, take a look at Office Max’s new back-to-school commercial. Dad is completely out of the picture in the sappy ad. Instead, moms and their inability to control their flood of emotions take center stage. From the melancholy “Have to Say Goodbye” soundtrack to the lingering mother-child hugs, the obligatory shot of a yellow Lab with the saddest puppy dog eyes you’ve ever seen, and teary-eyed mamas waving sadly to their offspring, you can practically hear the TV scream, “STEREOTYPE!!”
Juxtapose the Staples dad and the Office Max moms and you see why “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus” was such a huge seller.
Then again, I suppose if there weren’t some truth to the ads, they wouldn’t resonate with viewers and said viewers wouldn’t subsequently become Staples and Office Max customers.
Still, as funny as the Staples commercial is, I question its accuracy. After all, how many dads do you know that take on the back-to-school shopping challenge? In all of the years I have gone school supply shopping I haven’t seen even a hint of an adult male forging through the aisles in search of No.2 pencils, pink erasers and gluten-free glue.
Where’s dad when it comes time to drag the kids to the store, unfurl the mile-long school supply list and actually dig deep to pay for it all? At Staples? Or at home watching the Staples ad?
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