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What AI Tells Us About Modern Fatherhood

What AI Tells Us About Modern Fatherhood

The roles of fathers are ever-changing. Here’s how data says they’re represented in advertising creative today.

Coming a month after the more-heralded Mother’s Day and when summer (and summer vacation) is in full swing, Father’s Day tends to get lost in the shuffle.

Last year, the UK-based broadband provider, Plusnet, went so far as to embed actual Father’s Day cards in their billboards with the tagline “Not forgetting Father’s Day for the first time in years? That’ll do.”

So, your Father’s Day advertisements will not only lead customers to the gifts and experiences they need, but also remind them Father’s Day is on the way.

Shutterstock’s AI can help with casting, setting, food, activities, and even fashion.


Feature Mothers Too

It’s, perhaps, an obvious point that most fathers aren’t buying their own Father’s Day gifts, but shouldn’t an advertisement contain a father? Not necessarily. At the moment, women’s click-through rate (CTR) is 20% higher than men’s.

How can an advertisement reflect this? Show a woman shopping for a gift or have her filling out a card.

If you’re looking to fill out the cast:

  • Girls have the highest CTR, followed by babies and then boys.
  • Dogs are 28% more-clickable than cats, except in the technology industry where customers are partial to our feline friends.

Images via Mladen Zivkovic, Alena Ozerova, Rawpixel.com, PR Image Factory, and Bogdan Sonjachnyj.


Time to Visit Bars, Farms, and the Open Road

After two years of home office and postponed vacations, families are ready to break out of the house. Half of those who canceled their vacations in 2020 and 2021 are planning on taking trips this year—and they’re thinking big.

Vacation occupies our collective mind and increases in outdoor CTRs reflect this trend:

  • Roads have seen their CTR increase 900% since last spring, going hand-in-hand with this year’s road trip trend.
  • People are taking these open roads to beaches instead of mountains this year, the former 24% more clickable than the latter.
  • In general, bodies of water (except for ponds) have trended up, with rivers having the highest CTR. They’re 137% more clickable than lakes and 238% more clickable than ponds.
  • And, people are hitting the open road with motorcycles, whose CTR rose 2,803% in the past year. Cars also experienced a rise of 308%, making them more clickable than RVs and vans, but motorcycles still win out by 176%.

However, two locations have tied for the highest CTR this year: bars and farms. Bars have seen their CTR rise 1,329% over the past year; farms 521%.

Images via Monkey Business Images, Rawpixel.com, Lazor, goodluz, idea Ink Design, Halfpoint, Monkey Business Images, and sutadimages.


Feature Specific Food and Drinks

The rise in bars’ popularity coincides with a 130% CTR increase in drinking, in general, with wine becoming the beverage of choice:

  • Wine is 21% more clickable than beer.
  • It’s 52% more clickable than cocktails.

Images via Natalia Deriabina, Olena Yakobchuk, LightField Studios, and Likman Uladzimir.

Circling back to farms, they would be an ideal setting for a picnic.

According to our research, the most-clickable food to showcase in Father’s Day photography is dessert. Its CTR has risen 214% over the past year, making it 150% more clickable than breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Cupcakes take the, er, cake with the highest CTR of all, though other desserts have done well, too:

  • Regular cakes have seen their CTR rise 141%.
  • Donuts have gone up 135%.
  • Pies 71%.
  • Cookies 33%.

Images via Oleggg, bbernard, Rimma Bondarenko, Zivica Kerkez, Makistock, and Serhiy Bondar.

When it comes to savory food, though, it may be best to head back to the bar setting. Seafood and steak top that list and both of these can be difficult without a table.

Images via ButtermilkgirlVirginia and Volodymyr Goinyk.


Some Clickable Settings Are Around the Home

If you’re going to stay at home, Shutterstock AI shows that the kitchen has the highest CTR, although the living room is only 6% lower.

A clickable ad could feature the family cooking a homemade meal.

Images via PRPicturesProduction, Davide Zanin Photography, CREATISTA, and Anna Kraynova.

Looking at settings outside the home, yards, porches, and garages have all increased in clickability over the past year, but porches have experienced the biggest rise (636%).

Glasses of wine and desserts can be equally enjoyable on the porch.

Images via Zivica Kerkez, Monkey Business Images, RossHelen, and Qilin’s prance Filmmaker.

To round out potential venues, one interesting fact from the data is that the CTR for theaters and stadiums has held steady over the past year.

This suggests that, although people are itching to get out of their homes, a renewed interest in ticketed events has not yet come to pass.


Formal Clothing Makes a Comeback

Now that you’ve got your casting, settings, and food, let’s turn to fashion.

Since at least 2015, athleisure has reigned, becoming the norm during the past two years. Some are even predicting an uptick in comfortable athleisure post-pandemic, but our data tells us that people are looking to dress up:

  • The CTR for jackets has risen 900% over the past year.
  • Ties have experienced a 771% rise.
  • And dress shirts have followed with a 195% rise.

Therefore, in that trendy wine bar, mom and dad are dressed for date night and even in the pub, dad’s wearing a collar.

Image via debasige and wallybird.

But, before you go all in on formal attire, it must be noted that sneakers, with a CTR uptick of 744%, are the most clickable item of clothing.

However, this doesn’t mean ditch the suit. Some of the latest fashion trends recommend replacing Oxfords with a favorite sneaker.

If you want to take the sneakers in a more casual direction, jerseys are still engaging audiences with a 344% CTR rise over the past year—though they’re still not as clickable as formal clothing.


Run, Don’t Walk

The high CTR of sneakers also nicely dovetails into non-eating and drinking activities—namely exercise. Already strong in 2021, exercise as a category has risen 567% since last spring, making it extremely clickable.

And, across almost all categories:

  • Swimming measured as the most-clickable with a CTR rise of 650% over the past year. Maybe the whole family is swimming at that beach they took the road trip to?
  • Running is likewise very clickable, with an uptick of 496% over last year.
  • Cycling has also seen a rise in CTR.

The only physical activity with a CTR drop over the past year has been hiking, so maybe don’t have the family wandering around that farmland where they’ve had their picnic.

Images via Blacqbook, grandbrothers, hedgehog94, PK Studio, and AnnGaysorn.

But, not all the activity has to be fitness oriented. Reading has risen in clickability by 442% over last year. Picture dad lounging with a relaxing book (and maybe he’s still dressed rather sharp?).

Images via Smolina Marianna, Inna Reznik, Monkey Business Images, Robert Kneschke, and SeventyFour.

The engagement of playing has also risen by 329% in the past year, making its CTR about the same as reading.

So, that familiar advertisement of a father playing with his kids can still be a good idea. Just consider featuring the mother as well—she’s more clickable.


 Cover image via CREATISTA.

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