Here's my version of the commercial: "There are only so many soup companies that make kids happy. And even fewer that care about the spending power of fathers. With fewer Campbell's purchases and a shrinking marketshare, its amazing what a little respect can do."
I could probably be more precise with the title by including the word "movie" at the end, but that doesn't really sound quite as captivating. Some of you were probably wondering how I might get my son a dragon in the first place. But that shouldn't be your question. Your actual question should be pondering what dragon eggs taste like when they're cooked over-easy and flavored with a medium salsa. So let me just tell you - delicious!
My young lad has had a real craving for dragon stories lately. A few months ago he asked my wife and I to tell him stories and we both -independently- made up stories about dragons. A couple weeks ago he saw the Angry Birds Seasons 2012 trailer on YouTube and was fascinated to see a dragon as part of the story.
So, naturally, I thought he might enjoy seeing Dreamworks' animated picture "How to Train Your Dragon". I heard great reviews and thought it could be a fun family film for the three of us to enjoy.
Thankfully I noticed it was rated PG so my wife and I previewed the film before showing it to him. Despite the fun story line, great comedy, and beautiful artwork, the film contains quite a few dramatic and scary images...far too scary for an impressionable three year old.
My review of the "How to Train Your Dragon" is that it is extremely well done. Unfortunately, its too intense for my son. So we'll wait a while until he can enjoy the film rather than conjure nightmares from it.
Too often the dad blogger community is sidelined and ridiculed as a fad, a reaction to the success of mom blogging, or just something for crazy guys who aren't masculine enough. ProActiveDads was not only built as a response to those inaccurate criticisms, but also because we collectively understand the importance of media and stereotyping on today's culture and society.
With all of that in mind, we are extremely grateful to see the fruits of dad bloggers (and, indeed, all involved fathers) finally seeing some incredible dividends in today's media environment!
TIME Magazine recently compiled their "Top 10 of Everything" lists and one of the categories was "TV Ads". Great dad portrayals not only made the list twice, but they were the top two ads of the year!
Google's ad for their relatively new Chrome internet browser shows how a new father documents the life of his young daughter through the power of Google's tools on the internet, especially GMail. Its a heartwarming piece and an accurate portrayal of how dads don't have to do everything like moms. We have our own ways of being involved that are just as precious as scrapbooking.
The second best TV ad of the year was the first-rated ad from this year's Super Bowl: The Force - Volkswagen. Dads have awesome ways to be cool and make tremendous impacts in the lives of their children and Volkswagen USA captured that beautifully.
"When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that's..." a mess that will definitely stain your shirt. It is also descriptive of a recent social media failure executed by Ragu.
Beginning in March of 2011 Ragu began creating videos to target the mom blogging community and get opinions about dinner time. The goal was to tap into the conversation about dinner, cooking, and healthy choices. And in the last couple of months they began to reach beyond their target mom audience and began spamming dad bloggers on Twitter hoping they would join the conversation. Unfortunately for Ragu, they sent links to a video that played on an old and offensive stereotype: the hapless dad!
As you might imagine, dads joined the conversation. Ragu was publicly flogged for their inept usage of social media, their offensive video, and their long period of time without any response to the dad blogging community. Overall, I don't think Ragu won over any dads to their side of the aisle. If anything, guys like me -who cook and do grocery shopping- will be buying Prego or making more homemade sauces in the future.
My wife and I both cook for the family. We're both good at it and we put a lot of effort into giving our son a variety of healthy and flavorful options. So yes, on behalf of all awesome dads who cook, I found the video offensive and such tired use of inaccurate stereotypes is one of the reasons I founded ProActiveDads. I've got no issue with Ragu targeting and praising moms. But don't do it at the expense of dads. Our kids deserve better representations of respect and parenting.
Fatherhood Fact: According to a 2011 study of 2,400 men in the United States, more than 50% of men ages 18-64 identify themselves as the primary grocery shopper in their household.
Truth Be Told is a fun family movie premiering Saturday on FOX. Candace Cameron Bure and David James Elliot make up our adorable couple, except, they aren't a couple. The premise of the movie is a fairly simple one: a guy and girl need to lie in the hopes of realizing great business opportunities. Unfortunately, the people they're lying to have a zero tolerance policy towards such behavior and this is where the drama lies. (Sorry, couldn't avoid the pun!)
From the old college friends pretending to be husband and wife, to the kids stuck in the middle of the lies, all of the characters are likeable and make for an entertaining story. Perhaps the most enjoyable was the eccentric radio station cowboy played by Ronny Cox. His fun but hardworking character added a great dynamic to the plot and enabled some wonderful family moments. It should go without saying that Cox's acting was superb. We are constantly reminded how lies often compound themselves and become harder to unravel. Important lessons about family, lying, and doing what's right instead of what's easy can be found in this film from start to finish.
But the film was not without disappointment in the realm of fatherhood portrayal. As we've mentioned before, there were more than 20 major motion pictures in the 1990's that shared one common theme: if dad is the primary caregiver, mom must be dead. Sadly, Truth Be Told utilized this innaccurate and negative stereotype of single fatherhood. Luckily, this was the only negative side of Elliot's character. He was an otherwise loving and capable father who cared about kids and was working to help his community.
Spend a couple hours with your family this Saturday watching this wonderful story. I was fortunate enough to have candy and popcorn provided by the nice folks at Dad Central Consulting, but you'll no doubt have your own favorite movie-watching snacks handy.
"Truth Be Told" premiering Saturday, April 16th at 8pm/7ct on FOX.
I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of P&G and received a movie kit to facilitate my review and a gift code to thank me for taking the time to participate.
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My young lad has had a real craving for dragon stories lately. A few months ago he asked my wife and I to tell him stories and we both -independently- made up stories about dragons. A couple weeks ago he saw the Angry Birds Seasons 2012 trailer on YouTube and was fascinated to see a dragon as part of the story.
Truth Be Told is a fun family movie premiering Saturday on FOX. Candace Cameron Bure and David James Elliot make up our adorable couple, except, they aren't a couple. The premise of the movie is a fairly simple one: a guy and girl need to lie in the hopes of realizing great business opportunities. Unfortunately, the people they're lying to have a zero tolerance policy towards such behavior and this is where the drama lies. (Sorry, couldn't avoid the pun!)