Please do me a favor and watch these two ads, then read the post, below. I really want your opinion on them:
I’ve owned two Toyotas in my life. I don’t have anything against Toyotas. But I won’t be buying any car that is advertised with a bratty kid looking up from his video game and saying “I don’t tolerate dorkiness very well. Yet my parents cart me around in a car that says ‘Hi, we’re the geek family.’” The tag line spoken by the kid at the end: “Just because you’re a parent, doesn’t mean you have to be lame.”
Oh, and the young man is walking around pontificating while his hard-working (but apparently lame) dad is working away in the driveway, washing the “dorky” family car.
I know it’s just an ad. But as a parent, I’m wondering… Does Toyota think I’m so worried that my kid won’t think I’m cool that I’ll buy a vehicle because our dear little children “don’t tolerate dorkiness very well”? Give me a break.
Somebody needs to tell Toyota and its ad agency to give the Little Prince a bit less video-game time and to introduce him to a bucket of water and a sponge.
Then there’s the ad for Van de Kamp’s fish sticks. The adorable-looking little girl says to her mother, who just served her fish sticks: “What is this, minced? You feed me minced? You ever catch a minced fish?” After Mom switches to another brand, the little cherub says “This is more like it.”
What scares me the most? The fact that Toyota and Van de Kamp are probably having success with these ad campaigns — which says something about the current state of parenthood. Me? I’ll buy my cars and my fish elsewhere.
Share, Share: What do you think of these ads?
Kathy Sena is an award-winning health and parenting writer and the mother of a 14-year-old son. Visit her website at kathysena.com and check out her blog, Parent Talk Today, at parenttalktoday.com.
Both my husband and I can’t tolerate these ads and have vowed to not buy a Toyota because of them. Thankfully we haven’t seen them this past week so I’m hoping they decided not to use them any longer.
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The first time I saw that little girl rant at her mom about serving her minced fish, I shouted, “Time Out!” If these were my kids, they’d get an attitude adjustment.
I hope the “I want my kids to think I’m cool” phase of parenthood has died, along with playing music in the womb and elite travel soccer for six-year-olds. Take it down a notch, parents. Your kids will thank you when they go out on their own and discover they don’t have their own butlers or chauffers anymore.
Yes, I wanted to smack those kids, too. And I think it does sadly reflect the attitude and treatment and “entitled” feeling of too many kids today. This is why I could never be in advertising. We have a Sienna (bought used), and love it. But watching the “lame” dad washing that old paneled van makes me want to shout to him, “You go, dude!”
If that were real, I bet that dad would be a smart money manager who doesn’t fall prey to having new vehicles every few years.
In our home, we value thrift, budgeting, and not falling for every new gadget/thing just because “everyone else” has it. (Dave Ramsey – debt-free and “If broke is normal, then I don’t want to be normal.”) It’s not the brat in the fish sticks commercial that would make me not buy the product – I just think they’re terrible. As much as I agree with what Kathy says, I don’t know that I personally would be influenced enough to not buy a product based on these ads. I appreciate it being brought up, though; it’s something to consider.
We don’t watch TV, so the only place I would see these ads to be influenced by them anyway would be on the web.
Ugh… I couldn’t agree with you more! I went on a similar rant last year about those annoying Gap cheerleader girls. I’m so tired of obnoxious kids being trumpeted as cool. Beyond the very odd marketing trend, what kind of message is it sending our kids? Sadly, I know quite a few parents who let their kids dictate purchasing decisions, and that’s what these companies are capitalizing on.