Fathers Really Are Involved. Let the Marketing Rumpus Begin!

For all of the complaining I do when modern fatherhood is marginalized into a simple consumer trend, I have to admit that I get a thrill out of the idea that advertisers and marketers will soon begin flooding the airwaves with the not-so-subtle message that real men just want to hang with the kids (even if it is just for the status symbol element). Ad Age is spreading the good news/bad news:

In fact, they have come to see being an involved dad as the true mark of having it all -- much more than just succeeding financially.

"Dads today define success as being able to spend time with the family, and more of them say that spending time with their family is the thing they are most likely to do in their spare time," says Peter Rose, a trend interpreter at Yankelovich Partners. "That figure has gone in the last year from 52% to 62%."

Advertising Age - Lenore Skenazy - Dads Are the New Moms, so It's Time to Start Selling Them Stuff

(Via Daddy Types, whose readers wonder when mowing the lawn became a family-togetherness-killing time suck.)