For the Olympics the large, multinational, corporation P&G has rolled out a new marketing campaign stating that they are the “Proud Sponsor of Moms.”  After watching their message we can’t help but wonder, why leave out the dads?

The commercial text reads as follows:

“They weren’t born Olympians.

They were just raised that way.

This summer, as we celebrate the world’s Olympic athletes,

Let’s not forget the person who got them there.

Thank you, Mom.

P&G Proud Sponsor of Moms.”

In-between each line emotional images of mothers and their Olympian children flash across the screen.  The only line that’s spoken is the last one, music plays through the rest.

It cannot be said or argued that mothers don’t make immeasurable, countless, sacrifices for their children.  It also may be that in some cases, for one reason or another, it is the mother who is pushing their child to succeed in a sport.  Be it because they have more time to take them to practice or perhaps have an affinity for the sport themselves.

But, it may be a high claim to say that mothers are “the person who got them there.”

It seems to ignore the countless hours that the whole family puts in to support an Olympian’s lifestyle.  From father, to grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins even.  Olympians, on average, will train four to six hours per day, six days per week.  No matter who takes them to each of those practices someone paid for them, someone is running the household, someone had to stay at home to take care of the other children. The mother is a very important part of this equation, but no more than the father on the whole.

The commercial means well, and sends a powerful message about love, family, and being thankful for what you have and that sentiment is something which the Men’s Divorce Law Firm can stand behind.  However, commercials like this can only improve their message by being sincere to the truth of the situation.  If we could propose a change the commercial would incorporate footage of the whole family and the last two lines would simply say,

“Thank you. P&G Proud Sponsor of Families.”