Dads Met Up At Daddy Summit To School Advertisers On How To Not Be Sexist Lame-Os

It’s no secret in the parenting blogosphere — and beyond– that dads get a bum rap when parenting and advertising intersect. Notoriously sexist advertisements portray dads as children themselves, barely unable to understand the basics of childcare — just because they’re men. But some “daddy bloggers” met up with the top parenting brands to catch the suits up on the year 2013. Thank goodness somebody is.

The New York Times reports that 200 or so daddy bloggers and “media professionals” attended the Dad 2.0 Summit in Houston, Texas, as papas mingled with marketers to give them a better idea of the “daddy market.” High-five daddies because goodness, do they need it. Times they are a changin’ — and while marketers used to be all about getting that lady dollar, now it appears that men are “catching up” on household purchasing decisions.

So daddy bloggers are taking a page from the lucrative mommy blogger book and securing corporate sponsorship:

To put it another way, while the mom space is crowded with players, the dad space has room for more. So there is big money to be made, both by companies looking at fathers as consumers and by daddy bloggers looking to ride a wave of brand sponsorship just as mommy bloggers have.

But as the Times writes, “This is not a social mission; it is about the bottom line.” While we could all benefit from less bumbling dad representations in the media, advertisers clearly are eager to go where the growing piggy bank is. And oh, hey, looks like everyone wins!

(photo: Blend Images / Shutterstock)