Agency Chief tells Mums to get off Facebook and play with their kids?!

[Cornflakemum]

"Gerry Graf thinks the Internet is getting a little out of hand. So, the longtime TBWA\Chiat\Day and Saatchi & Saatchi creative director, who recently opened his own agency, Barton F. Graf 9000, whipped up the video below called "The Log Off," encouraging moms everywhere to put down the Facebook and play with their kids instead. "

Check out the YouTube video here

Whilst I understand the sentiment, why just MUMS?? ] anger

What about all the Dads on their ipads and blackberrys all weekends?

(Clearly designed to be controversial and drum up support for his new agency, but I bet it will backfire spectacularly!)

My child isn't here. Can someone make me a video to tell me to go and clean the kitchen floor?

Mine are at school, too. I'm neglecting the laundry.

I'm often sat with the laptop open and a kid on my lap. Even the little one doesn't want me in his business all day, so we're all busy reading/playing at once, chatting as we go along.

I sometimes get a bit at people who seem to manage to get involved in huge, drawn out online debates while they're with the kids, but I suspect the majority of mums are like me and dip in and out of forums and emails, do various bits of online shopping so they can do something other than shopping with the kids in tow and use their computers as an extension of doing the all relaxing together family thing.

I've spent much of this morning researching incontinence swimwear so one of my kids can go swimming with school and have the same opportunities as the rest of his class. I wouldn't even have known it existed without the Internet.

I certainly don't understand the need to aim the campaign at mums, that's for sure. Bad, bad move.

Gosh... you'd think after the clusterfuck those Beta guys created they'd have the good sense not to replicate. Morons...

I wonder when Gerry Graf was drinking in The Pregnant Man (Saatchi's bar) did he put down his pint and go home and play with his children??? Tosser

Ooh! Can Gerry come in for a little web chat??? Explain to us how we are neglecting our children when they are at school?

Oh yeah right ok,id better log off now cos some nerdy stranger tells me to,how about blokes on gaming sites,ive got friends who's dh's dont even come to bed anymore cos they are gaming.

"They have their computers on all day and leave the kids in front of the telly for hours whilst they catch up on mumsnet."

How do you know this is what happens?

The kids in that video are pretty old. Have they no friends to play outside with?

Oh dear, just another in the long list of things mums are doing wrong which will eventually ruin their kids...whilst I agree that children shouldn't be ignored by their care giver (whoever that is) and that as a society, we may be spending too much time staring at screens, is it really fair to target mums in this way?

From the day the children are born we are warned about all manner of things we shouldn't do, all the ways we could possibly kill our kids by accident, all the seemingly innocent habits we have that will apparently lead to our children being screwed up juvenile delinquents in later life. What we eat, say and do is intensely scrutinised, with parents open to criticism for just about anything. How many posts on here are from mums feeling guilty about something they are/aren't doing for their child? How many times have we all cried at something our children will never even remember, because we are sure we've got it all wrong? Facebook and Mumsnet are invaluable parenting resources which provide support and comfort to many, especially new mums who may feel isolated, so please don't give us something else to feel guilty about.

So either widen your campaign to include everybody, Mr Graf, or remove it. The majority of parents aren't stupid. Don't insult our intelligence.

Because I've been to peoples houses and seen it happen. I've had convos with people who have turned away to answer a thread on mumsnet.

Not just one person. A few. And I know from lengthy threads on mumsnet that some members will be on a single thread all evening. You do wonder where their children are and who is looking after them. The same names pop up time and time again and I think for them, mumsnet is just as much a habit as the gambling sites for the errant husbands.

I can often be on a single thread all evening as the DCs are in bed and DH is at work and there is sod all decent on TV most of the time. Should I be gazing at my Dcs whilst they sleep?

I have never been to someones house whilst they have been on Mumsnet/Facebook.

There are millions of mumsnet users and the majority are probably sensible although we are prob all guilty of getting carried away. I'll admit that when I was a regular user I would sometimes shoo the kids away because I was in the middle of a row or a debate online.

Some people take that a step further and use mumsnet as a crutch. Look at the threads now - almost every decision in daily life is posted as a question on mumsnet. Some users do turn up every single day for hours at a time, which is why you get 'regulars'. Fair enough if your kids are grown up, but at some point those children will be home and if both parents are ignoring them then they are pc orphans to an extent.

But I agree with others that targeting just mums is low. Men have problems with porn and gambling no-one asks them to get back to their wives and kids.

if you have men stating it is mother that need to log off rather than father, then they are being missed, men are seen as second rate parents and not important...that message is loud and clear

Hahahahaha, I thought the "agency" was child welfare or something official, which has a genuine mandate to care about parents' interaction with their children.

Not some nobody ad agency. Who the hell do they think they are? And why haven't they created a more nuanced message? MN is far more addictive to me than Facebook (whose interactions move at glacial speed), and in that, rhubarb has a point. However, an ad agency doing it badly is not the way to raise the issue of how much time we spend online.

I applaud other points made upthread, too: target fathers, too, and mothers learn a lot from being online - excellent points.

"Because I've been to peoples houses and seen it happen. I've had convos with people who have turned away to answer a thread on mumsnet."

Have you thought it might be you rather than the children?

I sometimes shoo my son away if it's a particularly juicy or interesting thread I want to read but then I shoo him away when I am on the telephone or trying to get housework done as well. I would say I am a SAHM and am allowed to shoo my 24/7 DC away sometimes but that wouldn't really be fair on WOHM who also sometimes need to be not working or performing childcare.

How about we get all the men who use internet porn to log off.

stop it clogging up google

Dads watching [insert random sport] on Sky better watch out as well.

The 'phone sitting' thing annoys me too.

Libra! Not wanting to go into too much info here obv Libra. I guess however that you could blame the TV too - many mums turn it on first thing in the morning and it stays on all day.

What I find sad is that previous generations were too busy doing physical work to spend much time with the kids, but at least the kids could get involved by helping to peg out the washing or dry the floor. Now this generation are too busy with technology to spend time with the kids and the kids can't even get involved. At least before they could see that mums were busy scrubbing the floor and dad was out at work. Now dad is on the PS2 and mum is addicted to this black box that sits on her knee.

Perhaps we need a day devoted to switching off the technology and getting to know our children? Down the pub for instance

Okay I have logged off Facebook, but dd2 is at my mums and dd1 is at school. What do I do?

Besides which dd2 won't play with me because I always get it wrong and dd1 is rarely in the house in this weather, she is out with friends and it's annoying and embarrassing when I tag along, she tells me

You can almost imagine their publicity plan. Right, we've got to launch a new agency, hmmm what shall we do to get publicity, oh I know there's that website, yeah lets ruffle their feathers, that will get them going, that will get us page 26 of the Mail. Tragic. Bet they're checking on here now to see how many posts

Im sure im not alone in going on the commy when DC isc asleep? what harm is it doing?

I know some are bad though.

oh i can't see the bloody video

can anyone repost the link?

if you have time of course

sounds like a load of sexist shite to me.

i have been on the internet today

doing banking and holiday planning
all things for my family so fuck you asshole sexist twat

its a well known fact men have more free time than womens so perhaps campain about that you nob

oh and selling on ebay

what a terrible person i am

We aren't on FB. We are on MN, you twit.

DH never uses the computer except for work - hates FB and all that. Hates computers generally and is usually outside. I am the culprit in our household and have sometimes been on it while the children go wild. Don't like the target of this campaign being women but has made me feel guilty and will take action. So bye - I'm going to play!