After taking a few communications classes at SMC I now find myself noticing things I usually would not have ever paid attention to. For example, the other day I was driving down Wilshire and one billboard in particular caught my attention. It was a huge one, lit up with bright lights. On it a mini van was pictured and the words “Daddy Like” were displayed huge and bold. Nothing else was written or pictured. I began thinking about the target audience. Usually mini vans are ”soccer mom vans” and aren’t portrayed as glamorous. Usually the commercials or adds are geared towards woman since they are the main people who drive them. This billboard though took a new approach. By stating “Daddy Like” it is giving the impression that this mini van is more attractive, or acceptable to women or men. I just thought it was funny that they would target men for a car that is so much made out to be a womans’ vehicle. I have also seen a few commercials where mini van companies are targeting children as well. They focused mainly on the tv and back seat room so the kids would enjoy it more.
“Daddy Like”
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March 9, 2010 at 7:29 am |
I was driving down Wilshire the other day too and saw this billboard in Brentwood. I remembered your post and thought about it some more: first of all, consider the geographic location as well for this out-of-home advertisement: Brentwood; I used to live there, it is all your classic white bread upper middle class American families, with the 2-3 children and the dog. Perfect for a minivan, no? Also, I thought that the “Daddy Like” copy could be really adressed to everyone: to women, in the sense that if the “daddy like”, than it was a good choice and the car was worthy to be bought, the “daddy” being the head of the family and having the ultimate decision on whether to buy the car or not, sort of giving a seal of approval to the women; to men in the sense that if you’re a “daddy”, then you probably need a minivan to take your children around, and maybe you are the one staying home instead of the mom (I’ve seen alot of career women with kids in Brentwood!); and children, because learning how to read and reading “daddy like” gives them a sense of familiarity and stability and will make them desire for their parents to buy the car. Very clever copy!!