Cheerios tells the awesome truth about dads

A new online ad for Cheerios gives us a chance to say to something in the culture, “Do more of that!” The video shows a married father helping his children through their morning routine while monologuing into the camera:

“Dadhood isn’t always easy. When a rule is broken, we’re the enforcement. Hey buddy, it’s garbage day. But when a heart is broken, we’re the reinforcement. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. Because being a dad is awesome”

For once, dads are portrayed as cool. Anytime I see dads portrayed that way, it makes me think of the television shows we grew up with. In our book Same-Sex Marriage, Sean McDowell and I trace the history of television. The last real strong father figure on TV, I think, was Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show. In 1980s television, family was the solution. But by the 1990s, with shows like Seinfeld and Friends, family had become the problem, and particularly dads like the buffoonish Homer Simpson or Peter Griffin from Family Guy. The list goes on and on and on.

I love celebrating strong dads. What I love about ads like this one is they touch something we know is true. Even if we’re culturally suppressing it, we still know it’s true. We still know there are moral absolutes. We still believe family is important. We still think kids need a mom and a dad. When commercials like this hit the big time, they remind a culture that’s suppressing the truth of what the truth really is: Dads matter.

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