Footnotes: Oreo’s Father’s Day Commercial
In the grand scheme of familial holidays, Father’s Day often gets the short end of the stick. Perhaps it’s because it’s during the dog days of summer, and it’s too hot to really accomplish much. Or maybe it’s because dads can be harder to shop for. I witnessed three people in their 20s at a Home Depot yesterday, frantically running around the aisles. Based on their conversation, they were children looking for a gift for their dad. The daughter said, “He likes squirrels so I got him this,” and it seemed to be some sort of squirrel decoration for the backyard. Then she added, “that’s $60 total, so $30 each.” After far too long of a pause, her brother said, “$20 each.” She said that was what she meant and they had a chuckle. It was about that point I realized I was in the wrong aisle.
Just Get Oreos For Father’s Day
Of course, if their dad is anything like the one in the commercial below, they could have simply bought a package of Oreos. It’s unclear if these siblings still lived with their parents. But either way, who’s to stop them from entering dad’s room just before midnight to have a special bonding moment over some creme-filled cookies? That’s a Father’s Day celebration we can all get behind.
I know I usually poke fun at the commercials I do Footnotes on, but this is pretty cute and subdued. A kid just wakes up his dad, sneaks him off to the kitchen, and then they nom on an Oreo each. Very charming!
But Wait, I Do Have One Concern
Maybe even two concerns, actually. For one, INCREDIBLE self-control from both the son and father. They’re each just having ONE Oreo. Have you ever only had one Oreo? No, you have not. You either have zero (because there are no Oreos in the house) or you have at minimum two, and more likely, 58.
My bigger worry is about the strength of both father and son’s tongues. They each unscrew their singular Oreo to lick the creme filling – a perfectly acceptable practice. Then they seem to screw the cookies back together to dunk them into the milk…and the creme appears to be fully intact! Did they just run their tongue over the creme without any dexterity at all? Did they lick the creme off and then put it BACK on the cookie offscreen? Is this merely a terrible continuity error on the director’s part?
So many unanswered questions, but perhaps that’s life. And though our dads have many lessons for us (often around building character), the revelation that we never will have all the answers is a lesson all of us can learn. Sometimes, we just gotta go with the flow and do our best. Happy Father’s Day, everyone!
