Amid surge of parenting search queries during the pandemic, Dove Men+Care steps in to give dads the answers.

INSIGHT

The pandemic saw record numbers of working dads thrust for the first time into the role of stay-at-home dad. But with no fatherhood handbook to reference and only 39 percent of dads rating themselves “good” at raising children, 86 percent of dads turned to YouTube for parenting help. But when they did, the search results overwhelmingly showed moms as the caregiver, not dads.   

And with parenting searches on YouTube at an all-time high during the pandemic, dads needed answers.   

CHALLENGE

Since launching in 2010, Dove Men+Care has been committed to expanding men’s opportunities to care by addressing stereotypes around masculinity, fatherhood and sports. However, as 2020 unfolded to reveal an unprecedented pandemic, the brand understood there was now a more desperate need to show its commitment to care in a more meaningful way.

Dove Men+Care wanted to give dads the resources they needed to navigate being a caregiver during a global pandemic, while encouraging them to buck social norms and be the parent they want to be. 

IDEA

#DadsCare How To is a YouTube channel for dads by dads, that answers the most searched for and topical parenting questions that arose during the pandemic, during the call for racial justice and beyond. No matter what challenges Dads are facing in the moment, our community of dad creators have an answer.

We wanted to create a real-time resource for dads who were navigating unprecedented parenting challenges – a place where they could see themselves as the dads they wanted to be. But we didn’t do it alone. We tapped into to our diverse network of fatherhood experts—real dads from organizations including Gays with Kids, The Dad Gang, the NBA, City Dads Group, and influential dads like Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian and dad vlogger Glen Henry.  

This diverse group of dads each tackled different topics that were trending in search–  like How to Keep Kids Entertained While Working from Home and How to Coparent While Social Distancing. As the year unfolded to reveal additional parenting hardships, we continued to flood our YouTube page with videos like How to Talk to Kids About Unemployment, How to Talk to Kids About Inequality, and How to Address White Privilege in an Interracial Family. By leaning into our partnerships and trending search topics, we were able to provide these dads an invaluable resource and role models they could turn to for help. 

PRESS

THE RESULTS