Mr.Rebates

Mr. Rebates

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

7 Mistakes Clorox Made in Taking a Swipe at New Dads

Clorox, makers of bleach and many other consumer products, just came out with a clever article called “6 Mistakes New Dads Make.” The article gleefully tells us that “Like dogs or other house pets, new Dads are filled with good intentions but lacking the judgment and fine motor skills to execute well.” And that’s just in the first paragraph. The rest of the article is so condescending and insulting that it’s hard to know where to start tearing it apart. So, in no particular order, here are 7 colossal mistakes Clorox made by publishing that article.
  1. They’re alienating potential consumers. With $5.5 billion in annual sales, you’d think that Clorox would have noticed that men–especially dads–are accounting for a growing share of household purchases. That’s true in traditional households (whatever that means), but it’s doubly true in households where at-home dads are making the majority of day-to-day purchasing decisions, and in single-dad-headed households–a fast-growing demographic–where dads are making 100% of the purchases. Even if Clorox used the ridiculously outdated statistic that women account for 80% of purchasing, that still leaves 20%–a whopping $1.1 billion worth of Clorox products that men are buying. $1.1 billion that Clorox is apparently willing to walk away from. I’m sure Clorox shareholders aren’t going to be too happy that the company just played Russian Roulette with a fifth of its annual sales. And lost.
  2. They’re alienating existing customers. I’ve done a lot of research and writing about the portrayals of fathers in the media. And a number of advertising execs told me that they ridiculed dads because women don’t like to be ridiculed and would never stand for it. There’s another factor at work here, too. Fatherhood is a women’s issue. Moms want their partners to be more involved and they want to see images of involved men. Women, probably more than any other group, understand the power of media messages and advertising to shape our consciousness. Many countries have banned ultra-thin models because there’s a direct connection between images of the “ideal” woman and eating disorders. the words “mailmen” and “policemen” have been replaced by “mail carriers.” We talk about “the men and women of the armed forces,” despite the fact that women account for less than 20% of military. We do all this because we want our daughters to grow up knowing they can be and do anything that boys can. Bottom line, women are going to be pretty ticked that Clorox is telling everyone that dads are useless and stupid. Useless, stupid dads aren’t involved dads. And women want involved dads.
  3. They’re falling back on old, old, old (and never accurate) stereotypes about men. According to Clorox, we’re too dumb to take their babies in from the rain. We’re so out of touch with life that we can’t tell whether our children’s clothes fit. We’re so blind that we won’t notice “the caked-on layer of dried yellowish crust (applesauce? sweet potato? Play-Doh?) surrounding Baby’s mouth and spattered baby food onto her bib.” And we’re so irresponsible that we’ll pop open a cold one, plop the baby down to eat dinner off the floor, and watch endless hours of inappropriate TV. (We’re also apparently so illiterate that we’d never think to “embrace parental sacrifice and crack open a book”).
  4. They’re incredibly sexist. Imagine an article on a major financial services company’s website that spent a few hundred words talking about how girls aren’t good at math, how women can’t park cars or balance their checkbooks, that diamonds are a girl’s best friend and how all they want in life is to marry a rich guy, and how life was so much better when females were in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant.
  5. They don’t understand irony. The idiot who wrote that article–and the team of even bigger idiots who signed off on it–clearly understand the power of media messages: Dads, they say, “have been inspired by raunchy comedies to bring babies to inappropriate places like casinos, pool halls, and poetry readings. None of these places are healthy for baby.” Okay, let’s assume that’s true. Wouldn’t it follow that those same dads might be so disturbed by how they’re being portrayed on the company’s website that they’d never want to buy a Clorox product again? Hmm.
  6. They assume that all dads behave the same way and that all readers of their web content will find humor where there really isn’t any. It doesn’t take a marketing genius to tell you that treating a group as large as fathers or mothers or men or women as a single demographic is incredibly naive–and incredibly bad for the bottom line.
  7. They underestimated how offended people would beAnd by “people” I mean everyone except employees of Clorox.
Thanks for the memories, Clorox, because as of right now, any of your products I might have around the house are going to be exactly that. Tossed out and replaced with the Costco brand.
http://www.mrdad.com/blog-2/7-mistakes-clorox-made-insulting-dads/#comment-886

Clorox hate-speech ad smears fathers as clueless dogs; boycott Burt's Bees products

July 01, 2013

Have you had enough yet of the dad bashing frequently seen in the media? According to sitcoms and TV commercials, men are complete idiots who wouldn't even know how to put their own underwear on straight if it weren't for their wives telling them how to do things.

Clorox jumped on the man-bashing bandwagon this week with an online advertising campaign so highly offensive that if it had targeted blacks instead of dads, it would have been called the most extreme example of corporate racism ever witnessed.

The ad begins by claiming dads "lack the judgment and fine motor skills" to take care of children, and it compares dads to dogs and other house pets in their sheer stupidity.

The ad then goes on to identify the "6 mistakes new dads make," each of which is an outrageous slur against all men. It claims, for example, that dads will put their baby's clothes on backwards and not be able to figure out why they don't fit.

The ad goes on to explain that dads allow their babies to "eat off the floor," and then they plop them down on the couch to "watch reality TV shows."

Even worse, Clorox somehow believed it was entirely appropriate for its marketing campaign to include this: "Some new dads have been inspired by raunchy comedies to bring babies to inappropriate places like casinos, pool halls, and poetry readings."

Here's also a screen shot of the online ad, before it was pulled by Clorox without explanation:



"So, to summarize," says a media editorial, "new dads give our kids dirty food and Play-Doh to spread all over their faces while watching 'Kardashians,' then put them in backward summer clothes in freezing weather, oblivious to their cries en route to a poetry slam. But you can't blame us, because of our perpetually beer-soaked state and canine-level motor skills."

Yep, dads are stupid morons, says Clorox. And they think it's hilarious to shove that message in your face. It's all part of the man-bashing bandwagon we're witnessing across the mainstream media.

Clorox customers outraged

Actual comments on the Clorox website:

What the heck are you THINKING, Clorox?

As a woman, a single mother, and a feminist, I find this "article" disturbing on so many levels. Perpetuating unfounded gender stereotypes is deplorable and insulting. Always.

Me want to comment but me two dum. Me MUST be male may bE evn noo dad.

Has the Clorox marketing department been in a bomb shelter since the 50s or something?

What in the almighty hell were you thinking by making fathers out to be giant dummies who can't figure out which end of the baby a diaper goes on? It's 2013, for pete's sake - do you really not realize that marginalizing 50% of a household ISN'T okay anymore?

Insulting on so many levels. I agree with the other responses and dads who have all weighed in. It wasn't even the slightest bit funny and as a stay at home dad who makes all the household purchases I will be more inclined to go with another brand since you think so little of my ability to make sound decisions. How is that for good judgment?


Message to Clorox: Your advertising and marketing team members are a bunch of @sshats

Can you imagine the outcry if this ad had been about WOMEN?

Or BLACKS?

Or MEXICANS?

Or GAYS?

Here's how it would have read, using the exact words from Clorox:

"Like dogs or other house pets, BLACKS are filled with good intentions but lacking the judgment and fine motor skills to execute well." - Clorox.

"Prudence won't stop MEXICANS from relaxing with a brew and blaring inappropriate shows while baby stares in horror/awe/wonder at the colorful moving yell-box." - Clorox.

"Some GAYS have been inspired by raunchy comedies to bring babies to inappropriate places like casinos, pool halls, and poetry readings." - Clorox.

Suddenly the offensiveness of it all seems obvious, doesn't it? Now you see that the Clorox advertisement is classic hate speech against men.

These Clorox people are so clueless and hateful, they will probably soon run "Clorox n----r jokes" and laugh it up at the expense of innocent African Americans, too. I can already see the racist ads from the Clorox marketing team: "Hey n----rs, here's how to get your WHITES more WHITE!" (Because they're selling bleach, of course.)

If you find that last paragraph highly offensive, that's my whole point: Clorox did this to fathers of all colors, including blacks! And the company is so completely disconnected from reality that it somehow thought its hate speech was not just acceptable, but even entertaining. How sick is this, really?

Personally, I denounce racism, sexism, man bashing and corporate hate speech. I am never buying Clorox products again, and I recommend you join me in this boycott against corporate hate speech targeting men. I would take exactly the same position if Clorox attacked women, African Americans or anyone who is gay, too.

Boycott Burt's Bees, now owned by Clorox

Burt's Bees was purchased by Clorox in 2007. (Yes, it's true. Look it up.)

Media is announcing a boycott of all Clorox products, including Burt's Bees, for the remainder of 2013.

Stop rewarding this company with your dollars when they turn around and use that money to run hate speech ad campaigns that depict all dads as stupid morons.

Boycott Burt's Bees and Clorox beginning immediately.

Unless, of course, you support hate speech. Because while Clorox only targeted men in this ad campaign, tomorrow they may target women, or blacks, or short people, gays, or God forbid... undocumented immigrants!

Message to Clorox: Grow up! Get a clue! Targeting dads for hate speech is not acceptable, and it's not going to be tolerated in our society. Didn't you ever hear of something called the Civil Rights Movement?

Men are fed up with white males being the brunt of racist, gender-phobic insults like the one you recently publicized. Shame on you and may your upcoming financial losses remind you to think twice before attacking ANY group of human beings in future advertisements.

http://www.naturalnews.com/041027_Clorox_Burts_Bees_boycott.html#ixzz2XovMRqg9