Above: a photo from my family archives. Me, Faye and our two eldest boys Jacob and Joel. This was taken around 6 Years ago before we had our youngest Son, Charlie.
23rd January 2016
As mentioned in a previous blog, I am a married father of three young boys and so I was keen to get my wife Faye’s opinions on advertising, some of the research I have found and our initial ideas. Here is what she had to say….
Me: Have you ever heard of A1 and A2 Milk?
- Faye: No
Me: (explains)
Me: How do you feel about advertising in general, and do you really take note?
- Faye: In general I find most advertising to be really irritating, stereotypical and completely money driven.
Me: What is it that you look for in an advertisement?
- Faye: Something straight forward, simple and effective that explains the product clearly. Also something that’s real i.e. Cowgate have a really nice advert that works well because they show motherhood as it really is and don’t try to sugarcoat it. Motherhood is wonderful but its also at time stressful and chaotic especially with three kids or more! I will point the advert out to you.
Me: There have been many adverts over the years directed at mothers of all ages, many of them have been accused of stereotyping mothers, with statistics often showing that this leads to mum’s feeling pressured into being the perfect, glamorous and all knowing mother. Have you ever felt like this as a result of an advertisement?
- Faye: Yes I have, too often companies use too much glamour, great looking women, chiseled men. I particularly hate holiday company advertisements that show this stereotypical four person family…. gorgeous slim model mum all made up, ridiculously handsome dad, one super-cute little boy and one slightly older super-cute little girl all on a ridiculously expensive holiday!! This drives me mad – it’s so unrealistic and unattainable and it makes you feel inadequate and like a failure. How many parents these days can actually give their children that? Also I can imagine many parents get into debt trying to achieve this.
Me: From some of the research that me and Jamie have done its noted that woman often dislike adverts that portray fathers as a lesser parent, i.e. Mum doing absolutely everything whilst the incapable dad sits with the kids and watches on. How do you feel about this?
- Faye: Yes you do see this it’s true, although it’s noticeably better than it used to be. Fathers are just as important as mothers and should always be considered when advertising to parents.
Me: Me and Jamie have a few ideas for this project. The one we are leaning towards is an animation that involves a young boy in his own adventure world fighting wild beasts and being a hero. His adventure time is rudely interrupted by stomach ache that’s brought on by drinking the wrong kind of milk (A1 Milk) which he has an intolerance to, all of a sudden he is back in the real world (garden) and the beast turns out to be the family pet cat!!! Cue our advertisement for A2 milk. What do you think of our idea so far?
- Faye: (Laugh’s) Sounds cool. As long as it doesn’t go off theme and it clearly explains the product.
Me: We want to tap into motherly love/parental love does the idea work?
- Faye: Yes the idea does, providing you can pull it off (laughs) also no parent wants to see their child in any pain or discomfort, I just want mine/ours to be happy and healthy.
Me: We are looking to try and emulate Pixar’s style for this animation, what are your thoughts on this please?
- Faye: Yeah that would be nice, it would be memorable, polished and if done correctly would indicate that the company has invested good money on the advertisement, clearly showing marketing is important to them.
Me: Thank you very much
- Faye: No problem !
Nicky Martin 