Wal-Mart thinks you have a momtourage
Categories: Just for moms, Relatives, Media, Shopping & recalls
According to the retailing giant, Wal-Mart, moms have a dedicated following of helpers -- family members, teachers, neighbors and baby sitters -- to make sure that raising a family doesn't interfere too much with their ability to go shopping. This "momtourage," as its being called, might even include Dad, notes the New York Times.Wal-Mart has signed a deal with a new unit of NBC Universal called Women@NBCU that offers access to the more female-oriented side of the business, including cable networks Bravo and Oxygen and television shows like "Lipstick Jungle." Lauren Zalaznick, president for the women and lifestyle entertainment networks at NBC Universal, sees moms as "identifiable consumer targets" for advertising. The agreement with Wal-Mart covers the last half of the year when moms are buying back-to-school and holiday items.
I'm not sure what we're doing wrong -- while we do get a lot of help from my wife's mother, I definitely wouldn't say Rachel has a "momtourage". I also have to say it gets a little tiring having society assume that we dads are nothing more than incompetent buffoons who sit around guzzling beer and, at best, trying not to get in Mom's way. Wal-Mart and NBC, I guess, think that women change every diaper and take the kids to school every day and we guys don't do anything. That would be all fine and dandy if we could actually get away with it, but it doesn't work that way outside of the marketing team's imagination.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sabrina 7-15-2008 @ 6:25PM
That's funny, a momtourage. Yeah, it's me, me and me. Oh, and my husband between the hours of 5-8pm and on a handful of Saturdays and Sundays he doesn't have to work. Even before we moved and I had an extensive network of friends I still didn't have a helper ir babysitter for the kids. *shrug*
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pbhj 7-15-2008 @ 8:39PM
I suspect it's to do with mobility. I know of more people I could genuinely leave my J with back at my parents (200 miles away) where I haven't lived for 12 years! than I do here - it's a village, this is a city.
Sad really.
My wife's parents are more like 500miles away. J is 3 and we've had one night out in those 3 years. We can't afford a babysitter.
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Kari 7-16-2008 @ 2:31PM
Oh, actually Roger, dads *can* be that way sometimes, exactly as the marketing team surmises. Substitute Coca-cola for beer and you've got it. My ex-husband seldom changed a diaper, refused to get up with kids one or two, has yet to purchase a single school supply... the list goes on. I know some dads that help out to a greater extent, mostly with things like coaching the kids' sports teams. But there are plenty of dads who, when asked to drop off little Jennifer or Jason at school, ask, "Well, where do the kids go in? What do I have to do?" Maybe Wal-Mart and NBC aren't giving more involved dads enough credit, but there are still PLENTY of dads who frankly don't want to be bothered.
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Steph 7-17-2008 @ 11:06AM
It seems as though on the internet, Dads are doing more to help out. In real life, my husband does nothing with or for the kids. I don't know any man who does even a third of the work at home/with the kids. (I may possibly know someone who does a quarter) Maybe this is because the type of man who posts on blogs is more likely to be the type that helps out? I'm sure some of these men exist, but I have trouble believing you are anything but a very small minority.
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Marsha Hendershot 7-18-2008 @ 2:36PM
I don't want to say Wal-Mart is getting ahead of us here...but, I do believe we need a more aggressive approach...turn up the heat...
I think we need so current flyer's, stats, hand outs,
Taking among ourself on the blog is great...but I feel
we need to be having town hall or mini meeting...to
educate people on the cause and effect Wal-Mart is having..
The best way to beat W-M down right is though back to school and Christmas...
I would like to see a poll on WALLMART|WATCH
to see where opponents live, so we can meet and get more
aggressive...we need some stink attacks ....Hard Ball Time
Marsha
Huntsville,TX
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