One father finds work-life balance on the teacups ride at Disney. How do you find perspective?
I love this commercial!
The Disney teacup ride helped the dad in this great Expedia commercial think through his work-family priorities.
Expedia just started airing a fantastic ad, focusing on a father who was clearly struggling with work-family balance, and who (of course with the help of Expedia—it is an ad, after all) was able to have a moment of joy and clarity (on the Disney teacup ride) to help him realize his work-family priorities.
The script:
It wasn’t a good time at work to go away. It never is.
But my wife and I had a talk, and so there I was on our trip, spinning around and around.
And in that moment, I realized
That’s my boy
This is my life
And I’ve only got one of each
(on screen: Find your … perspective)
Now, perhaps I’m partial to this ad because I just took a week in Disney with the family, but this ad resonated with me for a couple of reasons.
- It echoes some of what I’ve written about at FWF, and, more importantly,
- Is a positive mainstream depiction of fathers, and especially of fathers struggling for work and family balance.
The ad touches on something real and something that is generally neglected in the media. I suspect that because of this truth this will be a very successful ad campaign.
We all can’t afford Disney vacations, or flights through Expedia, but perhaps we can all find some moments to remind us that:
That’s my family
This is my life
And I’ve only got one of each
What’s your reaction? Have you seen any other good depictions of dads in the media? Let’s discuss in the comments section.
This was previously published on Fathers, Work and Family.
Read more on Work/Life Balance on The Good Life.
Lars. I agree with you 100% that the work of being a good dad is working in the trrenches day to day.
However, the ad is clearly just the quick story of a dad who has the realization that being a present father by spending time with his son is more important than being so focused on his job. The story spoke to me, and I think it does to many dads who struggle with work-family balance. It’s refreshing to see this on tv rather than yet another “doofus dad” commercial.
Thank you for reading and the insightful comment!
Hmm. I have to say, to me that commercial is just that, a commercial. And, frankly, I don’t think the moment I am truly there for my kids, the moment I have the perspective to put family first is when I go to Disneyland. Much more, it’s when the kids are sick and I’m the one staying home from work. It’s when I take them to the doctors, it’s when I help them resolve a conflict with a schoolmate, it’s when I come home from work and despite a compressed schedule find time energy to have the little one “help… Read more »