Wouldn’t it be completely crazy to put five dads and five babies in a house for five whole days? asked Huggies in a recent ad campaign. No, it wouldn’t, complained dads (and moms) around the country, because believe it or not — dads are quite capable of parenting, much less putting on a diaper. Those “Dad Test” ads are now going away.

ABC News says the feedback from angry dads, including campaigns like “We’re Dads, Huggies. Not Dummies” from a blogger on “The Daddy Doctrines” as well as protests on the blog “The Good Men Project.”

Huggies says they’re sorry they offended dads and made it seem like they didn’t think men are capable of childcare.

The statement from Kimberly-Clark and Huggies brand says, in part:

We have heard the feedback from dads concerning our current “real life” dad commercials. We recognize our intended message did not come through and that we need to do a better job communicating the campaign’s overall message. We have listened and learned.

They say they’ve made changes to the campaign to really put the performance of Huggies diapers and wipes to the test, instead of showing how their products make it possible for men to handle babies. The ads on their Facebook page now show dads tending to sleeping babies.

“We also realize that a fact of life is that dads care for their kids just as much as moms do and in some cases are the only caregivers,” the spokesman added. “The intention of our Huggies TV ad was to illustrate that dads have an opinion on product performance just as much as moms do.”

However, as Aric Melzl, the brand director for Huggies tells the Huffington Post, it’s really not all about dads, in the end.

“All of this,” the initial campaign, the full-on response, is targeted at moms,” he said. “I don’t want there to be any question about who we we’re going after.”

Duly noted. Dads, you still don’t matter as much as moms.

Huggies Pulls Ads After Dads Insulted [ABC News]
Huggies Pulls Ads After Insulting Dads [Huffington Post]

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