It's OK to make fun of new dads, right?

I was alarmed to read criticism of a new Clorox bleach ad launched in the United States.

In an attempt to have a bit of fun – and make the most of social media's role in all advertising campaigns as is the norm these days – they hired a writer to come up with something amusing. The result was a blog post called "6 Mistakes New Dad's Make", which the company promoted on its site and through Facebook.

But when a bunch of daddy bloggers caught sight of it, all hell broke loose.

See it for yourself. Do you find it offensive?

Image courtesy of daddydoctrines.com

The reason there's been such a huge backlash against Clorox is because the post is based on the premise that most new dads are hopeless. Let me assure you that new mums make most of these 'mistakes' too.

But that's not the point.

Dads are more involved in their children's lives than ever before. Like all new parents, they are doing their best and need support, not ridicule. No parent wants to be labelled as having made mistakes or being a bad parent.

So it's hardly surprising that daddy bloggers let rip.

Josh Levis of Daddy Doctrines commented, "New dads give our kids dirty food and Play-Doh to spread all over their faces while watching "Kardashians," then put them in backward summer clothes in freezing weather, oblivious to their cries en route to a poetry slam. But you can't blame us, because of our perpetually beer-soaked state and canine-level motor skills."

Chris Routly of Dads & Families said, "Too far within the 1st sentence. Can I suggest 'appreciating dads' is better shown by POLICY of no dumb dad stuff at all?"

Armin Brott of Mr Dad pointed out, "The idiot who wrote that article–and the team of even bigger idiots who signed off on it–clearly understand the power of media messages: Dads, they say, “have been inspired by raunchy comedies to bring babies to inappropriate places like casinos, pool halls, and poetry readings. None of these places are healthy for baby.” Okay, let’s assume that’s true. Wouldn’t it follow that those same dads might be so disturbed by how they’re being portrayed on the company’s website that they’d never want to buy a Clorox product again? Hmm."

Zach and Bryan of 8 Bit Dad said, "…this isn't the first time Clorox has either missed the mark with dads or flat-out insulted them. Luckily, the dad blogging community quickly mobilized and showed Clorox exactly how fine their motor skills are."

Scott of Dads Who Change Diapers wrote, "Now, I’d love to think that Clorox was just being funny and glib. You know, like those “DO” and “DON’T” infographics about how to take care of a baby with over-the-top “Don’t”s and an equal jabbing at men and women. Those are funny. This isn’t. From being equated to a household pet who has the best intentions but because of our hilariously horrible motor skills we can’t do anything right. Seriously, from Clorox’s perspective, it’s any wonder we were even able to mate to begin with!"

In the US alone, 32% of primary carers of children are dads and that number is similar in Australia and the UK.

In their defence, Clorox said it was just “a piece of web content written by a freelance humor writer who helps us on a number of projects."

What do you think? Too true? Or too offensive?