Characteristics that define dads in ads of today

“Sugar, spice, and everything nice…”

That’s what Professor Utonium added to create the Powerpuff Girls. But if we had to create a modern-day dad in advertising, what would go into the mix? A pinch of playfulness, a dose of emotional vulnerability, a dash of comic relief, and maybe just maybe, gentleness.

Surely, men are gentle or the term “gentleman” wouldn’t have endured for centuries. I’m placing my trust in history here. But are fathers gentle? Is that even an adjective that comes up in boardrooms and brainstorms when a fatherly character is being written into a script and dads are being cast? Does anyone in the room say, “Let’s make him gentle”?

It’s a question worth asking, especially now, when the portrayal of fathers in advertising is evolving. 

The Indian dad of the 90s might have been a figure of reverence, fear, or emotional distance. Today, the Indian father has undergone a transformation on screen. He is no longer a distant provider but a deeply ‘involved’ parent, sometimes even the emotional heart of the ad. This evolution is more than just a creative choice, it reflects a shift in who fathers are, what they feel, and how brands are learning to reflect that complexity. 

Casting a modern-day dad

The ingredients used to shape fathers in today’s ads aren’t just character traits; they’re cultural cues.

“Casting today is very deliberate. There’s a big difference between casting a ‘man’ (in categories such as auto, fashion and skincare) and casting a ‘dad’. Traits like empathy, playfulness, and vulnerability are favoured over authority, masculinity and stoicism. We now see dads as co-parents — packing lunches, doing school runs, helping with homework. These portrayals are crafted to challenge old stereotypes and reflect a more modern, relatable notion of fatherhood,” notes John Thangaraj, Chief Strategy Officer - Creative and Media, dentsu India. 

There’s also a shift in tone. The dad isn’t the sermon-deliverer anymore; he’s more likely to be the goofball who learns on the job, the emotionally attuned partner who leans in. Think of Ariel’s Share the Load, where the father realises, almost too late, the gendered nature of domestic labour he unconsciously passed on. 

Or Stayfree’s 2023 campaign, which gently nudges the idea that some dads do show up when it matters not with fanfare, but with quiet reassurance.

There is also a difference between how dads are positioned in the frame, which is a strategic call to show them as an equal partner in parenting. 

“The power/distance equation between dads and their kids is nowhere near what it once was,” Thangaraj adds. “Dads today are learning alongside their kids, not above them.”

And he jokes that “The Great Indian Dad Bod” is now a standard casting requirement. “Apparently an essential prerequisite of being a father in Indian advertising is to have never set foot in a gym.”

Telling us more about the subtle, deliberate transitions that have taken place in front of the camera, Anand Murty, Chief Strategy Officer, Fundamental says, “In terms of building a father figure in an ad, we’ve seen features and brows soften and a clear depiction of men who offer greater emotional support to those in the family.”

The great ad dad shift

The classic stern dad, the one who cleared his throat to assert authority, is slowly making way for someone far more… approachable. Relatable. Vulnerable.

“Dads in ads have transmogrified from stern and stoic providers to emotionally involved advisers,” says Ramanuj Shastry, Co-Founder and Creative Chairman, Infectious Advertising. “That’s because gender roles, parenting codes and the idea of masculinity itself is changing. Today, TV Dads cook, clean, help with homework, counsel and banter. They are no longer just cookie-cutter authority figures but are friends and nurturers who show their vulnerability. While the judgemental provider stereotype hasn’t completely vanished, there is a clear shift from ‘control’ to ‘connection’.”

Echoing this, Murty says, “We’ve seen a steady shift from the archetype of the classical patriarch – stiff, unemotive, rock-like, strict and someone to be feared to a contemporary, supportive, approachable, benign archetype who seems to display a broader (though still insufficient) emotional range.”

If the father once stood at the metaphorical gate, waiting for exam results with clenched fists and tighter lips, today he’s inside the house as he should be, reading bedtime stories, or having heart-to-hearts about periods and exam pressure. The shift is clear in campaigns like Tanishq’s Father’s Day film, where a father struggles to write a letter to his adult daughter. It is a raw, unresolved, deeply human. 

These new scripts have brought a new lens to look at fathers, one that is surely needed. 

Why do dads seem different though?

Like most advertising trends, the new dad isn’t being built in isolation. He’s the product of cultural currents like shifting masculinity norms, changing family dynamics, and a more vocal ask for equal parenting.

“The rise of nuclear families and double-income households in urban India has forced dads to truly ‘share the load’ not just with laundry, but parenting in general,” says Thangaraj. “Advertising has moved in step, portraying dads not as disciplinarians but as nurturing, emotionally intelligent figures.”

Sharing a few examples and reasons behind this shift, Murty says, “These shifts are inevitable as we continue to open up as a society, as the family and the idea of the  family itself changes to include more slices of real life – think single dads, queer dads, dads of queer kids, dads of kids with disabilities, dads who stay at home, dads who learn how to share the load.”

“This has led to the exploration of different father archetypes and several brands have explored fathers in more meaningful ways – Stayfree Father’s Day, Airtel’s Boss/Wife, Raymonds and Tanishq come to mind as brands who have done some good work to explore more nuances in the life of a father/husband,” adds Murty.

Globally, this evolution is even more pronounced. Dove Men+Care’s “Real Strength” celebrated dads crying, cuddling, showing up often as the emotional backbone of the family. 

In contrast, many Indian brands are still playing it safe, elevating fathers in softer ways, but stopping short of complexity. 

Changing the lens from outside to inside

That’s where the problem lies, according to Murty. 

“I feel all the progress apart, we are still guilty as an industry of being superficial and in the  worst case, unbelievable for the very fathers we claim to represent. This is because the traits and roles are all seen from an outward, relational lens. For instance, what do partners and spouses want from men? Enter the benevolent supporter. What do kids want from fathers? Enter the understanding, hand on-shoulder friend. What do frustrated homemakers want? Enter the goofy, out of shape father who  learns to get and do better,” says Murty.

Even with this evolution, something still feels... curated. 

“How much do fathers love fatherhood? How do fathers see themselves in the mirror? How do they feel about their bodies? What really are their grooming needs? Is it always as simple as trying to attract a mate? Or looking young? Or appearing successful?” Murty asks. “What challenges do they grapple with? Are they merely tweaked versions of their fathers?  

That’s the emotional blind spot advertising hasn’t quite stepped into.

A mirror or a mould? 

Pride is the most acceptable emotion we let fathers display. He beams as his child takes the stage. He smiles in approval when the training wheels come off. It’s the safe emotion, the clean, camera-ready one.

But fatherhood, like motherhood, comes with a fuller, messier emotional range. And it's time ads reflect that too.

It’s okay to show a dad struggling. Not in a sitcom-style, slapstick way, but in a quiet, very real one. The kind where he’s stuck in traffic after a delayed client meeting and gets a blurry WhatsApp video of his daughter on stage. He feels crushed for missing it. Or the kind where he’s googling “how to talk to a teenage son about rejection” at midnight with no answers in sight.

It’s okay to show a father feeling guilt. That all-too-human emotion usually reserved for motherhood in advertising. Guilt when that client meeting wins over time. Guilt when patience runs thin. Guilt when he wants to be everything, but can’t.

Even when brands get it right, like Airtel’s ad with a female boss who’s also a mom, with her husband managing home life, these are often one-offs. The larger advertising landscape still leans heavily on half-truths: the lovable, out-of-shape, clueless-but-trying dad is now as much a stereotype as the distant provider once was.

And when it comes to queer dads, single dads, or those with less ‘glamorous’ family structures, representation is still missing. Murty raises a deeper question: Are these new portrayals really representative? Or are they just more likable and thus, more marketable?

Murty puts it best when he says, “There have been numerous research studies with men, revealing that for a lot of fathers, the image they see in advertising isn’t necessarily relatable. Men and fathers also feel vulnerable. They don’t have all the answers all the time. They know they have rough edges but sometimes lack the right partners  to help them smooth things over. Parenting can be seriously scary – especially in days of social media  driven hysteria and over stimulus. Many can’t bring themselves to watch Adolescence on Netflix because it only deepens the sense of frustration they feel of doing everything in their power to raise  their kids well and yet have zero control over how things will work out in the end.” 

And what about showing a father in fear? Not fear of the world, but fear of failing his child. Fear of not knowing how to have a difficult conversation. Fear of not being enough in an age of ‘perfect parenting’ reels.

Let him feel confusion. Let him feel insecurity. Let him ask for help. Not just directions, but emotional guidance. Because if we truly believe that parenthood is shared, then the emotional labour of it, the guilt, the anxiety, the doubt must be shared too. Not just in real life, but in the stories we tell.

Dads of the future

It’s tempting to pat ourselves on the back for retiring the iron-fisted father figure. But there’s more that needs to be done.

“Dads are no longer afraid to be goofy or vulnerable and that’s progress,” says Thangaraj. “But the next step is depth. Honesty. Messiness.”

Murty agrees: “We’ve seen brands like Frida depict motherhood as frustrating, tiring, unglamorous. Why can’t fatherhood be the same? Why does it always have to be a teachable moment or a punchline?” We’ve seen brands explore the realities of motherhood. But fatherhood still hides behind soft filters.”

Brands can no longer afford to treat fathers as either comic relief or the reformed authoritarian. We need to ask tougher questions: What do fathers feel about fatherhood? Are they happy with who they’ve become? What do they fear? What pressures do they carry quietly? And perhaps most crucially: Are they being seen, not just represented?

The modern dads in ads need a gentle nudge toward empathy. A willingness to fail. And just maybe, a boardroom that isn’t afraid to say let’s make him gentle. Maybe the real twist is this: the accidental fourth ingredient that Professor Utonium might’ve added? In 2025, it should be the first one. Gentleness.