Proctor & Gamble rarely mess it up, when it comes down to marketing campaigns. But now they do seem to have. In their “Proud sponsors of Moms” campaign they have lowered themselves to one of the lower of the lowest, if it comes to parenthood. In the ad below they glorify the disgustingly pushy behavior of moms accepting nothing but the best from their children’s performance in sports. Those moms will stop at nothing: dragging their children out of bed to training in the early morning when the kinds clearly need their rest, showing only disappointment and no support when their son or daughter fails and only showing happiness when they (the parents) reach their goal: they have made their child win Gold in the Olympics.
Let’s think about it a bit further: Wouldn’t it be great if your child becomes an Olympic champion? Yes, of course. It would make me proud, as well. But while I’m proud of my son every day, the chances that he will become a Olympic champion, especially when I push him very hard, are exceptionally small. Is a ruined youth worth the effort? Is it my right to ruin my son’s youth? Is it the right thing to do towards a happy (adult) life for my son? There are enough specialists pointing out why we should be aware of pushing our children too hard, before it is too late:
It should not be "Win at all Cost", It should be "Fun at all Cost"
To those moms (and dads) out there, I would like to say: Give your children an exceptional good youth, but let them be children, while they are still children. Support them to develop themselves, but give them a break. Be a Good Parent above a pushy parent.
And to P&G: Keep to your first value: Integrity: “We always try to do the right thing.” Do the right thing.