This is the last of three sponsored posts about Philips Norelco, and the beard I have not missed since I shaved it off the day the Devils gave away lost the Stanley Cup.
Are you tired about hearing about Philips Norelco? Good. I'm very glad to hear that. I'm very glad to be able to sit here and hear you all bellyaching about how this blog has been HIJACKED by a Dutch company called Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., which began as a shortwave radio station in 1927 and has ballooned into a multinational colossus with over €25 billion in annual revenue. (Source: Wikipedia!)
Why am I happy about that? Because over the past year, its Norelco unit has invested a whole lot in dad blogs.
It began with Stachetacular, and a $15,000 donation to last year's Movember team. It continued with sponsorship of the first Dad 2.0 Summit. And most recently, it worked with us at XY Media to create this New Face of Dad video, which debuted on Father's Day and features what looks like Whit Honea examining his son's brain through his nostrils:
It also includes (in reverse order of hair retainment) Jim Higley, Seth Pirate, Clay Nichols, and Jon Armstrong, each talking about more than just what we dads do for our kids (because we all do for our kids). The difference is how we like doing it, how fatherhood flipped a switch in our manbrains and told us that siring offspring can be a helluva lot more than an hour or two after work and a 529 Plan.
Norelco put this together without product placement, and only a brief brand bumper at each end, and paid pretty well to do it. Because 1) it wants, ultimately, to move shavers, and 1A) it wants to do so by promulgating the image of a capable, emotional, grateful dad taking care of his kid(s), and loving (almost) every minute of it.
If it sounds like I'm fawning, I'm OK with that. Because when I think of the two brands who've done the most to help shift the image of man- and fatherhood into a more positive light, it's Dove Men+Care (who's already signed on as a Presenting Sponsor for Dad 2.013) and Philips Norelco. (Which, now that I think of it, both have European parent companies. Interesting.) And in the nine months I've worked with Norelco, I know this isn't about to end here.
Which is why, when Norelco offered to sponsor these hockey posts (the previous two are here and here), I was glad to take part. Even if it meant growing a beard in the summer, which I never do. Norelco is doing right by us dads, and the gear also happens to work really well. I've been using the shaver for the past month, and my son is particularly enamored of the robotic bin that flushes it with cleaning fluid. He likens it to Han Solo being lowered into carbonite.
So yes. I'm grateful that Norelco is on the team, and happy to write about it. I am even happier and gratefuler that I was able to shave the beard before the heat wave sent temperatures over 100º for most of last week. Otherwise, I very likely could have pulled a Full Silverstein and been found under a bridge somewhere.
