| I've often complained about the way men and fathers
are mocked and denigrated in television commercials. In
November, 2004 we launched the
Campaign Against Anti-Father Verizon Commercial,
asking Verizon to stop running the commercial
"Homework." In that ad a bumbling father tries to help
his little daughter with her homework and is treated
with contempt by both the girl and her mother, who
orders the father to "leave her alone" and "go wash the
dog." Our campaign made 300 newspapers, and the Verizon
ad stopped running a few weeks later.
Today we are launching another campaign to combat
anti-male advertising. Currently, several advertising agencies are competing
for a $150 million advertising contract from Volvo. The agency which is the
apparent favorite to win the contract is Arnold Worldwide, the creator of
several anti-male commercials. Another, Euro RSCG,
currently creates ads for Volvo, and created "Rosi," a popular,
father-friendly Volvo ad.
We are asking Volvo not to award the contract to Arnold Worldwide and instead award
it to one of the other agencies, preferably Euro RSCG. To email
and fax Volvo, click here. Be
polite, but let them know how you feel about
advertising which ridicules men and fathers.
The Commercials
Arnold Worldwide's anti-male commercials include
the Fidelity commercials “Ping-Pong,”
“Parking,” and
“Kid's Toy."
In "Ping-Pong," a father plays his 11 year-old daughter, beats her, and goes
into a mocking, in-your-face celebration as his daughter has the "my dad is an idiot!"
expression on her face. To watch the commercial, click
here.
In
"Parking," a husband looks like a fool in front of his wife, who's disgusted
and marches off. To watch the commercial, click
here.
In "Kid's
Toy," a man makes a fool of himself playing with a kid's toy in a doctor's
office waiting room as a little girl and two women watch him with contempt.
To watch the commercial, click here.
Arnold Worldwide did five commercials for Fidelity,
four of which mock men and fathers. (The other one, featuring aging rock
star Rick Derringer, is neutral and well-done). Arnold Worldwide says:
"Put simply, our work speaks the truth. It
always comes out of the truth of the brand and connects with consumers in
ways that we’ve found ring true with them."
Portraying men and fathers as idiots is "the truth"?
On the other hand, Euro
RSCG's Volvo television ad "Rosi" is a touching
commercial
depicting a loving father picking up his chatterbox little daughter from
school. To watch the
commercial, for which Volvo is to be commended, click here.
Below is a list of Volvo's executives, along with
their phone #s. I urge you to call them, and also to email and fax them by
clicking here. If you can only leave a message, which
will sometimes be the case, leave a short, polite message expressing your
opposition to Arnold Worldwide and its anti-male commercials.
Please remember that Volvo has not done anything wrong yet. We bear Volvo no grudge, but we are trying to convince them
not to make the mistake of awarding the contract to Arnold Worldwide.
Our hope is that if Arnold loses its bid for this $150 million contract, it
will have a ripple effect throughout the advertising industry, who will
begin to understand that creating anti-male advertising can cost them money.
Special thanks to FathersandHusbands.org,
which conducts valuable research about anti-male stereotypes
in television commercials.
Again, to email and fax Volvo, click here.
To discuss this issue on my blog, click
here. To donate to support our efforts, click
here.
Contact Volvo Executives
Below are the phone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses for the relevant
Volvo executives. We are "casting a wide net," as it were. Most of the
phone #s below are American ones. The Swedish phone numbers can be
dialed directly--just start with 011 and proceed. All of the Swedes
speak English, so don't be afraid to call them. Sweden is six hours
ahead of Eastern time and nine hours ahead of Pacific time. When the
intended party is not available, leave a short, clear message telling
them that you don't want Arnold Worldwide to win the $150 million
advertising contract because of their anti-male commercials. Always be
polite and to the point.
Hans Krondahl
Executive VP of Marketing
Volvo Cars of North America in Irvine, California
ph: 949 341-6614
fx: 949 341-6613
hkronda1@volvocars.com
Tim Ellis
Director, Global Advertising and Sales Promotion
Volvo Car Corporation in Goteborg, Sweden
ph: 011 46 31 59 00 00 (the main number at headquarters)
fx: 011 46 31 59 79 30 (this is specific to Tim Ellis)
tellis23@volvocars.com
Lex Kerssemakers
Senior VP, Brand, Business & Product Strategy
Volvo Car Corporation in Goteborg, Sweden
ph: 011 46 31 59 00 00 (the main number at headquarters)
fx: 011 46 31 59 43 88 (this is specific to Lex Kerssemakers)
lkerssem@volvocars.com
Olle Axelson
Senior VP, Public Affairs
Volvo Car Corporation in Goteborg, Sweden
ph: 011 46 31 59 00 00 (the main number at headquarters)
oaxelson@volvocars.com
Volvo Cars of North America, LLC
Public Affairs
Irvine, California
Toll Free: 1 800 970-0888
Fax: 1 949 341-6713
Geno Effler
Vice President, Public Affairs
Toll Free: 1 800 970-0888
geffler@volvocars.com
Soren Johansson
Manager, Corporate Communications
Toll Free: 1 800 970-0888
sjohan44@volvocars.com
Stephen R Bohannon
E-Communications Manager
Toll Free: 1 800 970-0888
sbohanno@volvocars.com
James Hope
Product Communications Manager
Toll Free: 1 800 970-0888
jhope10@volvocars.com
Dan Johnston
Product Communications Manager
Toll Free: 1 800 970-0888
djohn116@volvocars.com
Kathleen Schinas
Media Communications Support Manager
Toll Free: 1 800 970-0888
kschinas@volvocars.com
Ingrid Alm
Media Events Manager
Toll Free: 1 800 970-0888
ialm@volvocars.com
Robin March
Executive Assistant
Toll Free: 1 800 970-0888
rmarch@volvocars.com
Click here to email all Volvo executives at once
Complete and send the form below to email and
fax Volvo executives.
At this time
we are not seeking further protest letters.
For an explanation, click
here.
|
Re: We're
concerned about Volvo's relationship with
Arnold Worldwide advertising agency
Dear
Volvo:
As I'm
sure you
are
aware,
currently
there
are
several
advertising
agencies
competing
for a
$150
million
advertising
contract
with
your
company.
The
agency
which is
the
reported
favorite
to win
the
contract
is
Arnold
Worldwide.
We are
concerned
that
Arnold
Worldwide
has
created
numerous
commercials
which
mock and
denigrate
fathers
and
husbands.
These
commercials
can be
viewed
here.
We are
pleased
with
Volvo's
current
advertising
agency,
Euro
RSCG,
which
created
the
popular,
father-friendly
Volvo ad
"Rosi"--a
touching commercial
depicting
a loving
father
picking
up his
chatterbox
little
daughter
from
school.
We are asking Volvo not to
award the contract to Arnold Worldwide and
instead award it to one of the other
agencies, preferably Euro RSCG.
Some of
Arnold
Worldwide's
anti-male
ads
include
the
Fidelity
commercials
“Ping-Pong,"
“Parking,"
and
“Kids
Toy."
In
"Ping-Pong,"
a father
plays
with his
11
year-old
daughter,
beats
her, and
goes
into a
mocking,
in-your-face
celebration
as his
daughter
has a
"my dad
is an
idiot!"
expression
on her
face.
In
"Parking,"
a
husband
looks
like a
fool in
front of
his
wife,
who's
disgusted
and
marches
off.
In
"Kid's
Toy," a
man
makes a
fool of
himself
in a
doctor's
office
waiting
room as
a little
girl and
two
women
watch
him with
contempt.
Arnold
Worldwide
says,
"Put
simply,
our work
speaks
the
truth.
It
always
comes
out of
the
truth of
the
brand
and
connects
with
consumers
in ways
that
we’ve
found
ring
true
with
them."
Does
Volvo
believe
that
these
insulting
portrayals
of
fathers
and men
are "the
truth?"
Volvo
has
always
prided
itself
on
providing
safe,
reliable
family
automobiles,
and we
feel its
advertising
should
uphold
these
same
family
values.
To learn
more
about
our
concerns,
please
click
here.
We have
no
affiliation
with any
of the
advertising
agencies
involved.
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