“Happy Father’s Day, Mom!” Angel Soft has made several enemies with those four simple, seemingly harmless words.
Why are the naysayers so upset about the ad? Because they feel like it devalues the role that fathers play in the development of their children.
And to an extent, you may be able to see their point.
While no one can deny that mothers are integral to the growth and development of a child and that many more men than women neglect their parental duties, the idea behind celebrating Father’s Day is to celebrate the men who do show up.
Whether it’s the biological dad or a caring stepfather, who steps into the role for a needy child, the day is supposed to be about those guys, not about the guys that can only make a baby while failing miserably at fatherhood.
By shifting the focus to single mothers, critics are accusing Angel Soft of denigrating the good guys on the day that is supposed to be “their day” with the “Happy Father’s Day, Mom” ad.
Before continuing, see the ad for yourself.
And now T.J. Sotomayor, who seems to be heading the outrage against the Angel Soft ad, responds.
If you’re not in a place where you can hear Sotomayor’s comments for yourself, here’s the gist of it. Angel Soft is basically “making a mockery of fatherhood and masculinity” by smearing fathers on a holiday devoted to them.
The video is not without its social media support either, and they’re not all male detractors. Take this comment from Lisa Troy.
“When are the men going to stand up to these 3rd wave feminists! This commercial is the most hurtful commercial to ALL fathers out there! The real bullies of America are the 3rd wave useless feminists pushing their liberal social engineering project to effeminate males.”
And this.
“I think this is a vicious attack on men, I just think its really… weird and misguided. Hearing them say ‘Happy Father’s Day, Mom’ gave me a weird feeling. Like the statement happy FATHERS day MOM is an oxymoron. It doesn’t work. And I don’t know why they felt like they had to do this. The stories of these people were very touching but… why didn’t they just do this on Mothers Day?”
Angel Soft has responded, and it’s pretty clear they didn’t expect the fallout. In comments to Advertising Age, they said the ad wasn’t mean to degrade fathers.
But what do you think, readers? Is the Angel Soft message, “Happy Father’s Day, Mom!” out of line? Sound off in the comments section.
[Image via YouTube screen grab, linked above]