Paternity rights become the latest malecentric ad focus

A sharp and quietly angry campaign, created with VCCP and Agatha O'Neill for The Dad Shift, has become the latest in line of well pitched ‘male issue-led’ ads.

The campaign takes aim at the UK’s famously short paternity leave and uses a series of simple cultural comparisons to make the point: there are plenty of things that outlast two weeks, and a new baby is definitely one of them.

The stunt element is well conceived, relying on bold visual stickers and succinct copy to do the work.

The campaign turned into a ‘council-facing activation’ that was picked up by ITV News, proving it successfully escaped the marketing bubble and entered public conversation.

Rather than relying on sentiment alone, the ad uses the language of institutional pressure and visual provocation to turn policy into something visual.

There’s also an anarchic element to the campaign, with the stickers’ hook (that family social norms are outdated) standing out boldly alongside perishable items on public display.

On target

The ad shares some of the same DNA as a spate of recent male issue campaigns. Uncommon’s hair loss effort comes to mind. Although very different in execution, it touches on a similarly unsung concern.

Here Be Dragons and Beavertown’s campaign is also notable in this genre for inspiring conversation, much like Foster’s before it.