Why not 'proudly sponsor' dads too?

Now the Olympics is finished, does that mean an end to Procter & Gamble's horrid 'Proud Sponsor of Mums' campaign too? Please say yes!

Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea for an ad campaign. And it's as brilliantly executed as one might expect a huge international company, whose brands includes Fairy, Pampers, Max Factor, Ariel and Gillette, to produce. The mums' stories are great.

But come on guys, should a company of your size and reputation be so narrowly focused on mothers (presumably because research shows they're the ones who buy most of your stuff) that you'd miss such a big opportunity to also celebrate the many fathers and father-figures who work their fingers to the bone to help their children become Olympians? 

How to lose customers and offend half the world's parents in one easy lesson

Massive congratulations to Chris Routly, a daddy blogger from Pennsylvania whose petition against Huggies' demeaning 'Dad Test' advertising campaign forced Kimberly-Clark (Huggies' multinational owners) into an embarrassing turnaround.

The original campaign was based on the idea that Huggies nappies could withstand the ultimate test - that of being put on and taken off by fathers...who are of course completely incompetent fools.

Yes folks, an idea this sexist, patronising and ridiculous got through whatever processes exist at this huge international company, and was deemed perfectly ok to unleash on the unsuspecting consumers of America.

Thanks to floods of complaints and Mr Routly's petition, the company decided to adapt its campaign. You can read about the whole sorry tale in the Washington Post and on Mr Routly's own blog, Daddy Doctrines.

You really couldn't make this stuff up, could you?