'Stop Working and Buy Your Kids Blizzards': DQ Marketing Falls Flat

‘Stop Working and Buy Your Kids Blizzards’: DQ Marketing Falls Flat

Dairy Queen’s summer ad campaign urging parents to drop work to buy their kids soft-serve has been put on ice just days after the 10-part series was launched. The first ad of the series met with backlash from working parent organizations.

Before launching the commercial on June 21, Dairy Queen announced, “The DQ brand has created the Skip Day Soft Serve Singers, a children’s choir, who will be inviting and harmoniously, guilt-tripping parents to take a day off through several online videos.”

Using a children’s choir, the commercial depicted school children left at home during the summer while their parents went off to work. Singing, “Are you working? Are you working, Mom and Dad? Of course you are.” The video received criticism from working parents.

Dressed in red robes, the children continued to sing, “Summertime’s a calling. Blizzard Treats are calling. But you’re gone, always gone.”

Several guilt-tripped parents called out the restaurant chain on social media with one angry parent posting, “You can bet that when I do take my kid for a treat AFTER work, it won’t be to DQ.”

In a statement released by Dairy Queen, “The ad was not coming through as we intended. Our intent was to encourage families to take an opportunistic pause from work, Like, ‘Hey mom, stop checking your email. And ‘Surprise, let’s go get a Blizzard.’”

After receiving criticism from the initial advertisement, the chain restaurant has made the decision not to release nine additional commercials featuring the Skip Day Soft Serve Singers.

Taylor Leach
Thu, 06/28/2018 – 13:04

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'Stop Working and Buy Your Kids Blizzards': DQ Marketing Falls Flat

JOB TITLE: PRE-SELL DAIRY HYGIENE SUPPLIES SALES SPECIALIST