6 mins read

Can’t We Be Girl Scouts and Barbies?

Mattel and Girl Scouts of America announced a new $2 million, three-year partnership in March. The topline is pretty simple: girls in a local scout troupe can earn a new Barbie Be Anything, Do Everything participation patch to sew on their uniforms. Sounds great to me. A simple way for an underfunded non-profit to earn some serious coin to keep doing good for Americas girls. So why does this partnership spew controversy? Actually, there …

5 mins read

Brave New Dads

Now heres a concept that would have made my ’70s mom spit out her martini: Dads who kvetch about the frustrations and joys of changing diapers, setting up playdates, and the best products to use to clean vomit off a highchair. What would have amazed her even more: hundreds of these dads gather annually at daddy conferences. The get-togethers are just as glitzy as marketing-to-moms conventions, with the dads events sponsored by mammoth brands such as Honda, Dove, Kraft and Huggies.