Demo: 18-34

It never strikes me that I'm firmly lodged in a specific demographic as much as it does when I'm watching a car commercial. Yes, I know, most commercials are geared toward the coveted 18-34 age group (which I'll be in for another four years, thankyouverymuch), and we love us some Betty White getting tackled in a backyard football game, or an indie female singer crooning about how much she loves life. (Double points if she's backed up by a ukulele!)

But now, I've got this other thing going, which is lending things a whole 'nother shade. I'm going to be a parent. And dammit if we don't all want to be the coolest parents in the world, not those old fuddy-duddy parents we've seen in other generations.

Or, so the car companies believe of us.

Almost every car commercial I've seen in the last year or so has an absolutely adorable child, either telling its parent how to use their car or rolling their eyes at how lame their (or other kid's) parent's car is. Tag line: "Just because you're a parent doesn't mean you have to be lame." We're clueless, Toyota tells us, but we don't have to be the geeks we were made fun of for being in high school! Or, we don't have to worry about becoming geeks, just because we've procreated!
 
It all started, of course, with this commercial, which I admittedly thought was cute.


Yes! I thought. Parents are people, too! But after several viewings, it all seems so...desperate. We like to shop! We wear hoodies! We play loud rock guitar while our children bang on the drums! We know the lingo and we're not afraid to be our horn-rimmed-glasses-wearing selves! We're not lame, and our children will love us! It is a far cry from other, older car ads, but I can't help but feel pandered to.

Ah, well. I'm just looking for a stroller that can fold up quickly enough to get on the bus.