A series of TV commercials aimed at parents in recent months has sparked intense online debate over traditional family values and the reality of modern life.
Manufacturer Cow Soap is the latest advertiser to generate discussion on this issue, releasing a commercial for Father's Day titled "Ataerumono" ("What You Pass On"). The video was first aired on June 15 and has since gained almost 1.6 million views on YouTube. A few months earlier, manufacturer Unicharm released a commercial for its Moony diapers that was targeted at new mothers. While both commercials appeared to be trying to offer parents support and encouragement, many online viewers found the messages contradictory.
The Cow Soap commercial follows a seemingly ordinary man as he completes an ordinary day in his life. He takes out the trash and, as he makes his way to work, receives a phone call from his wife, who asks him to pick up a cake and birthday present for their son. The protagonist ponders the importance of a "kind, family-oriented father" who is struggling to bridge the gap between the type of figure his father once was and the role of a modern father. In one scene in which the man looks back on his childhood, his father remains faceless and distant. Even when recalling a moment of familial bonding, he remembers a respectful formality to proceedings. Returning to the present day, the man decides to "wash away" his ennui with Cow Soap and join his family for a belated birthday party.