Fatherhood Initiative

4:30 pm EST June 19th, 2008 | News | 14 Comments

After writing about Obama and his father’s day speech the folks at the Fatherhood Initiative let me know about these two ads they’re running with the Ad Council.

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14 Responses to “Fatherhood Initiative”

  1. White Whale says:
    June 19, 2008 at 4:55 pm

    Cute:)

  2. TroyJMorris says:
    June 19, 2008 at 6:06 pm

    Those are the greatest feeling commercials.

  3. Dorothee says:
    June 19, 2008 at 7:47 pm

    Thanks for posting Oliver :) Keep up the great work!

  4. John says:
    June 19, 2008 at 10:21 pm

    Oh man, talk about belittling the black man. I’ve got two girls and I know that I’ve been there and done that but, the white boy does combat and the man does cheerleading (not that there is anything wrong with that as a man who has done it — the cheerleading practice, that is), but c’mon no gender stereotypes plays right into no race stereotypes.

  5. Dkelsmith says:
    June 19, 2008 at 10:46 pm

    That reminds me of being 9 years old, watching USA Kung Fu Theater with my dad and having a “Karate Match” afterward.

  6. Philip Shropshire says:
    June 19, 2008 at 11:54 pm

    Well, the first guy is a homeowner which puts most black men out of the range of this commercial. Two, the second guy is clearly gay, sure he’s not the out of the closet uncle…I know he’s supportive. Couldn’t get mom to do the cheerleading spot?

    Anywayz…

    I have some problems with the Booker T. Washington Obama speech. I don’t mind it as much as other people and I try to keep in mind that Obama is trying to appeal to white voters while he’s talking to black folks. Fine, we get that tactically. The problem is that I don’t think the problem is getting more credentials if, as you posted earlier, white criminals do better at getting jobs than black men, probably better educated as well, without criminal records. If I had to pick enemies it wouldn’t be our laziness, it would be massive deindustrialization and the massive influx of drugs into the community. Its also true, and the excellent series the Wire pointed this out, that oftentimes crime is a better choice for the black man than working at Walmart if you’re actually trying to support a family.

    I guess if you wanted a real test on this: create 25000 manufacturing jobs that pay a living wage (about 15 to 20 an hour) and then compare crime and out of wedlock stats. My guess is that they would go down. You might say, well, creating 25000 manufacturing jobs isn’t easy and you’re right but here’s something I wish Bill Cosby would do. Invest in Guy Negre’s aircar and build several plants and dealerships all around Philadelphia. I just think that crime and other pathologies would go down. It’s easier to be a good father if you have a good paying job. And Cosby has the money. He should put his money where his mouth his. They’re looking for american investors. It would be nice if they were black. You can’t feed a family on service industry jobs.

    Philip Shropshire
    http://www.threeriversonline.com

    The aircar is real. Go here for info:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/CATvolution

  7. Vanessa says:
    June 20, 2008 at 8:17 am

    “the second guy is clearly gay”

    I don’t think he is gay. I think the point of the commercial is that he loves his little girl SO MUCH that he will act like a fool for her. I think it’s very endearing. I don’t see it as being racist either (but I’m a white woman).

  8. Vanessa says:
    June 20, 2008 at 8:38 am

    P.S. Oh, and what makes you think the black man is not a homeowner? I live in NYC and plenty of people own their apartments.

  9. Duros62 says:
    June 20, 2008 at 11:38 am

    I don’t think he is gay. I think the point of the commercial is that he loves his little girl SO MUCH that he will act like a fool for her.

    I don’t either. Still and all, he couldn’t do that stuff inside?

  10. Quaker in a Basement says:
    June 20, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    I don’t either. Still and all, he couldn’t do that stuff inside?

    Apparently you don’t have a young daughter. They will not be denied.

  11. Philip Shropshire says:
    June 20, 2008 at 5:45 pm

    Vanessa: Yeah, that homeowner thing came off wrong. I guess I was trying to say that the people they’re aiming for, to pull themselves up by their pails or their bootstraps and such, probably wouldn’t be prosperous homeowners as well. Just sayin’…

  12. Vanessa says:
    June 20, 2008 at 7:50 pm

    My dad and my sisters and I used to play this game called monster blanket. He would hide under this big tacky tiger blanket and growl while my sisters and I would scurry around the blanket on the carpet. Then he would grab one of our ankles, pull us under the blanket and tickle us. We would scream and giggle with joy. I miss him.

  13. Vanessa says:
    June 20, 2008 at 7:59 pm

    Philip,

    Yeah, I understand where you’re coming from, though I believe that there ARE plenty of prosperous pops (doctors, business men, etc) who are AWOL.

  14. Duros62 says:
    June 21, 2008 at 10:59 am

    Apparently you don’t have a young daughter. They will not be denied.

    Well, she’s 19 now, but yeah, I hear ya.