P&G brand Pantene unveiled its regional Super Bowl spot from Grey, featuring Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams, Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten and New Orleans Saints tight end Benjamin Watson and their daughters
Entitled “Pantene Dad-Do,” the spot show these NFL stars doing their daughters hair. “My dad’s giving me a dad-do,” says Williams daughter near the opening of the spot, with a look of concern on her face. The message “Girls who spend quality time with their dads grow up to be stronger women” appears onscreen, tying the approach to the brand’s broader campaign. At the end of the spot, all the daughters’ hair preparation is complete and they all seem relatively pleased with the results, and with having spent some quality time with dad. It’s a cute approach and should resonate with the many dads watching the big game, even if some other viewers find it a tad on the sappy side or with only a tangential connection to the brand itself. In addition to the 30-second broadcast spot, there’s also a series of online ads featuring each father demonstrating his own “dad-do” on his daughter.
“When we discovered research done by Dr. Linda Nielsen from Wake Forest University revealing that quality time spent with dads is key in raising daughters who are more self-confident, self-reliant and more successful in school and in their careers, we wanted to do something to encourage dads to do with their daughters,” P&G vice president of hair care and color Jodi Allen told Adweek. “We didn’t want to just say, ‘Spend time with your daughter.’ Pantene wanted to give them a tangible thing they could do: style their hair. We wanted to give them the tools to do it, with how-to’s and tips. So many empowerment campaigns just tell you to be empowered. Pantene wanted to show them.”