The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Author

By Kyle O'Brien | Creative Works Editor

August 16, 2017 | 3 min read

A group of cute kids are telling some truly groan-worthy “dad jokes” on Tell a Joke Day to promote fatherhood in a new PSA campaign.

The HHS Administration for Children and Families (ACF), along with the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse, has launched a new series of public service advertisements recognizing the critical role fathers play in the lives of their children. The campaign created by the Ad Council and creative agency Campbell Ewald coincides with Tell a Joke Day and centers on the popularity and growing trend of telling “dad jokes.”

Through sharing these jokes, delivered by kids who clearly enjoy telling them, the PSAs aim to communicate to fathers that the smallest moments spent with their children can make the biggest difference in their children’s lives. The ads direct fathers to Fatherhood.gov, where users will find tips, tools, information and jokes to help them get more involved with their kids.

An estimated 24 million children in the US don’t live with their biological fathers, and a recent Ad Council study on fatherhood involvement found that most fathers surveyed said that the issue of “father involvement” was important to them personally and most have sought information about how to spend more quality time with their children.

“Although this campaign utilizes a lighthearted approach to the subject of effective fatherhood, its emphasis is one of real importance to fathers and families everywhere; that fathers play a crucial role in impacting positively the lives of their children and of their families as a whole,” said Steve Wagner, ACF acting assistant secretary.

The campaign tagline, “Take time to be a dad today,” is part of an ongoing effort to encourage dads to play an active role in their children’s lives.

“Dad jokes represent more than just a trend; these jokes are smiles, moments, and memories made with one of the most important people in a child’s life. We hope this work shows dads that making an impact on their children’s lives can be as simple as making them laugh,” said Lisa Sherman, president and chief executive of the Ad Council.

“Jokes can be found in every dad’s bag of tricks — dads of all backgrounds, situations and complexities. Some are groan-worthy and some are downright corny. But that exchange of humor, which only takes a shared moment between dads and kids, creates cherished childhood memories,” said Jo Shoesmith, chief creative officer at Campbell Ewald. “This work captures all of the natural, quirky ways kids go about reciting jokes shared by their dads.”

The Ad Council is distributing the new PSAs to media outlets nationwide this week, and they will also be made available through PSACentral.org.

Creative Campbell Ewald Ad Council

More from Creative

View all