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5 funny dad ads from this years Super Bowl
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Super Bowl Sunday is just hours away and you can already check out some of the highlights online. Well, the commercial highlights, that is. - photo by Herb Scribner
Super Bowl Sunday is just hours away and you can already check out some of the highlights online.

Well, the commercial highlights, that is.

Many of this years Super Bowl commercials have already leaked online and show a common theme among them: family-friendly lightheartedness with a deep focus on dads.

This is a turn from the traditional run of Super Bowl ads that often include sexual content, beer or bawdy humor, Yahoo! Finance reported.

Think of the Doritos ad in which a baby uses a slingshot to steal a bag of chips, or the one in which a man bites into chips to magically rip a woman's clothes off; think of the Bud Light ad in which a dog is trained to fetch beer, Yahoo! Finance reported. Then the needle moved away from push-the-limits sex and humor, and toward heartstrings. Budweiser has proven itself the king of beers and sentimentality by bringing together its iconic Clydesdales with puppies in a series of commercials.

These serious ads seemed to be a downer for fans, Nat Ives, executive editor of AdAge, told Yahoo!, which forced advertisers to continue with their dad ads, just with a funny twist.

This comes at a time when Americans are worried about the amount of sexual pervasiveness in modern culture, and how much children are exposed to drugs, alcohol and tobacco, according to the American Family Survey. That may also be why theres been an ongoing trend of more family-friendly Super Bowl commercials in recent years.

"You saw a trend toward pro-dad advertising, Ives told Yahoo! Progressive ads about blended families. ... It was a moving experience if you wanted that sort of thing," he says, "but there was also a safety ad in which a child died. It was a lot, in culmination. This year, the smart strategy is fun."

Here are five commercials that will give you a taste of what dad-inspired ads youll see during the Super Bowl.

The First Date

Hyundai is advertising its latest car-finder technology in its Super Bowl spot. And whats a better way to do so than having a commercial that features comedian Kevin Hart spying on his daughter on her first date.

One of the benefits of advanced GPS technology, we can all agree, is spying on your loved ones. Hyundai speaks to this basic if shameful human impulse by selling its find your car anywhere function by following Kevin Hart tracking his fictional daughter on a date by lending her boyfriend his new car a Hyundai with car finder technology, Mashable reported.

The Hair Do

Dads can do their daughters hair, too. And, apparently, so can NFL players.

Procter & Gambles Pantene will air 30-second commercials during the Super Bowl this Sunday that show NFL stars fixing their daughters hair. As you might expect, the football stars fumble around.

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The commercials will also be released with some additional videos that offer advice on how to style hair. This is part of a larger campaign by Pantene to inspire young girls to feel confident about their beauty and appearance.

We know strength and self-esteem start by building confidence in girls at a young age, Jodi Allen, the vice president of P&G Hair Care & Color for North America, told The Cincinnati Enquirer. "The quality time spent with their daughters now will foster the next generation of strong and beautiful women.

The Star Man

With David Bowies recent passing, Audi has made a Super Bowl 50 commercial set to the sounds of David Bowies memorable song, Starman, and it features a father and son.

The commercial shows a man having lost his zest for life after years of space exploration. Its not long after that his son arrives home and tells him, OK commander, come with me, and the two venture outside to see the new Audi R8 V10 a car that can reach up to 205 miles per hour.

The Dad Joke

There are few actors who can pull off a dad joke like Christopher Walken, especially in the new Kia Optima commercial airing for Super Bowl Sunday.

In the commercial, a man seems to only embrace the color beige in his suits and sock colors. But with the help of Walken, and a clever dad joke, he makes a change in his style.

Its like the worlds most exciting pair of socks, but its a mid-sized sedan, Walken says.

The Dad Dance

Dad dancing has been used for comedic purposes before. So T-Mobile decided to capitalize on that craze and the trendy Hotline Bling music video by having a commercial in which artist Drake performs his dance but is asked by video execs to make some changes that match up with T-Mobile policies.

"When you say, 'Call me on my cellphone,' just add, 'Device eligible for upgrade after 24 months,'" one woman says in the commercial.

Drake, with a cheesy smile, agrees.
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How to avoid 'sharenting' and other paparazzi parenting habits
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A recent study revealed parents often spend up to two hours staging a single photo of his or her child to post online. - photo by Amy Iverson
Before having kids, some people just dont appreciate their friends baby posts. But after having a child of their own, three fourths of new parents jump right on the parental social media bandwagon. If you have become a member of this group, there are some rules to follow for posting responsibly.

Much of a parents worry is how to teach their children to use social media responsibly. We talk with our kids about privacy, oversharing, and setting restrictions on their devices to keep them safe. But parents themselves need to look in the digital mirror once in a while. Before having children, it doesnt take as much effort to think about what to post online. Its up to us to decide what we share about our own lives. But once you become a parent, there are many questions to think about regarding what is appropriate to post about your kids on social media.

In a recent survey, kids clothing subscription company Mac and Mia surveyed 2000 new parents to find out how they are documenting their kids lives on social media, and what concerns they may have.

First of all, people without children seem to feel a bit differently about the onslaught of baby pictures online than those who are parents. 18 percent of people say before they had kids, they were annoyed by their friends baby posts. But after having children of their own, 73 percent admit they post progress pictures of their little ones every single month.

Not only are new parents letting the world know each time their baby is a month older, but they are posting about their kids every few days or so. Men and women report they post 6-7 times per month about their baby.

And while 70 percent of new parents say the benefit of using social media is how easy it is to help family and friends feel involved, there are some downsides. Here are a few tips to avoid the pitfall of becoming paparazzi parents.

Dont miss the moment

In the Mac and Mia survey, some parents admitted to spending up to two hours to get the perfect shot of their baby. That seems a little extreme. New and old parents alike should be careful about spending so much time taking pictures and videos that they dont enjoy the moment. Years ago, I decided to never live an experience through my phone. A study by Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut, found that when people took pictures of objects in an art museum, they didnt remember the objects as well as if they simply observed them.

This photo-taking impairment effect can happen to parents as well. If we are so consumed by getting the perfect photo, we can miss out on the moment all together, and our memory of it will suffer.

Dont forget about privacy

60 percent of couples say they have discussed rules and boundaries for posting their babys photos, according to the Mac and Mia survey. Even so, men are 34 percent more likely to publish baby posts on public accounts. If parents are concerned about their childrens privacy, keeping photos off of public accounts is a given.

In the Washington Post, Stacey Steinberg, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, and Bahareh Keith, a Portland pediatrician, wrote that sharing too much information about kids online puts them at risk. They write that all that sharenting can make it easier for data thieves to target out kids for identity theft. Check that your privacy settings are where they should be and never share identifying information like full names and birth dates.

Dont be paparazzi parents

36 percent of parents say they take issue when their childs photo is posted online by someone else. Responsible social media users will always ask permission before posting a photo of another child. But parents should also think about whether their own children will take issue with their own posted photos a few years down the road.

When parents are constantly snapping pictures and throwing them on social media, it can be easy to forget to pause and make sure the post is appropriate. I always use the billboard example with my kids. I ask them to picture whatever they are posting going up on a billboard in our neighborhood. If they are okay with that, then their post is probably fine. Parents should ask themselves this same question when posting about their children. But they should also ask themselves if their child would be OK with this post on a billboard in 15 years. If it would cause embarrassment or humiliation, it might be best to keep it private.

Once children reach an appropriate age, parents should include them in the process of deciding what pictures are OK to post. Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed 10- to 17-year-olds and found children believe their parents should ask permission more than parents think they should. The kids in the survey said sharing happy family moments, or accomplishments in sports, school and hobbies is fine. But when the post is negative (like when a child is disciplined) or embarrassing (think naked baby pictures or messy hair), kids say to keep it off social media.
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