ADVERTISING
TY PENNINGTON, A GUY'S GO-TO-HANDYMAN, has definitely been Trading Spaces.
Instead of building fantastical homes for TV wannabees, he’s now pitches – get this -- baby formula, specifically Similac’s SimplePac.
Ty Pennington’s got milk! Yet while I’ll give you that dads feed babies, too, Ty Pennington has no children. So do we really need a “design expert” to revamp a can of formula?
In a word, no. The tone of both the video and print ads, as seen in Parents magazine for the Similac SimplePac is condescending. We’re supposed to believe that a childless man is surrounded by mothers bested by canned formula? Thus far in my experience, it’s pretty easy to measure out two spoons-full of dried powder with a premeasured plastic cup. Or is Ty so good at getting the job done on deadline that he has tips on mixing up formula fast before an infant wails?
The ad’s funniest image is when the mothers-cum-groupies crowd Ty as he explains the stay-put scoop. The so-called mothers appearing in the spots seem dimwitted with their faux “a-ha” moments over snapping lids and firm grips. Honestly, Similac, could you have made motherhood seem more mundane and ridiculous?
Pennington actually does have a design degree, and worked as a carpenter before his stints on Trading Spaces and Extreme Home Makeover. But that doesn’t give him street cred to revolutionize baby formula bottles, and last I checked, baby formula seem an unlikely product to sell with sex appeal.
Ironically, the bottles that first popped into my head when seeing Pennington in these spots were those that led to his arrest last year for DUI. I know Ty's apologized sincerely and has paid his dues, but the ads are evidence of Similac’s opaque condescension to women.
MzEll is a stay-at-home mom who writes, reads, knits, and tries to maintain sanity on a regular basis. You can read her blog at Cookiemonks.
Posted October 22, 2008
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