It’s been well documented (if not well researched): At some point in the 1990s, Ad Dads very suddenly became moronic punchlines. I don’t know who was more responsible for this—ad agencies or brands or Homer Simpson—but the tipping point was reached quickly. It was an anti-Mad Men ad movement. It was anti-creative. And it was just as sexist as all the Women As Sex Objects ads (though not as insidious).
The OG “Swagger” Dad
But in the last few years, there has been a shift in Dadvertising to Dad as Hero. That’s fine. But, unfortunately, a subset of this new “Super Dad” ad concept has been the “Swagger Dad“, popularized by comedian Brian Huskey in a lazy, hackneyed though widely applauded Toyota minivan ad. Like all such awkward-white-people-co-opting-black-culture ideas, it was insulting to the entire human race.Swagger Dad #2
Now four years later Toyota, via their agency Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles, has finally released a “sequel” featuring “The Neuberts” (Christ). And since many criticized the first spot as racist, the world’s leading auto manufacturer brought in Brooklyn boy Busta Rhymes to embarrass the fuck out of himself, hopefully for a very fat stack.
It has all of the cringe and none of the entertainment of the original video. This took four years. And I’m unemployed.-
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