• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 12, 2018

While plenty of brands choose to shower dads in schmaltz or humor, Carhartt is using its blue-collar muscle differently this Father’s Day, honoring four business-owner dads with hand-painted signs.

The “Fathers and signs” campaign, using the #CarharttDad hashtag, found four father-run businesses around the U.S. — a butcher’s shop in Dearborn, Mich., where Carhartt is headquartered; an auto salvage company in Duluth, Minn.; a hardware store in Jersey Shore, Pa., and a farm in Buffalo, W.Va. — and then surprised them with beautiful hand-painted signs.

A spokesman for the 129-year-old Carhartt, still family owned, says the campaign was created by its in-house team.

While they may not be Carhartt’s rugged workwear, clothing is expected to be one of the top gifts for dads this year, reports the National Retail Federation. With total spending predicted to reach $15.3 billion this year, 77% of Americans plan to celebrate Father’s Day, spending an average of $133 per person. About 43% say they’ll buy dad clothing, 42% will choose gift cards, 19% a personal-care product, and 16% some type a home-improvement related gift. And 47% are planning an experiential gift, such as a game, concert or meal out.

The survey, conducted for the NRF by Prosper Insights among nearly 7,700 adults, says interest in these experiential gifts has been climbing since 2009. By retail channel, the NRF finds that 39% will shop at department stores; 34% percent online, 25% at a discounter and 24% at a specialty store. 

In terms of ad impressions, Amazon is bulldozing all other brands, according to an analysis from BIScience, a platform that tracks competitive advertising. Since May 1, it’s got around 6 billion Father’s Day impressions, followed by Barnes & Noble, 371 million impressions, gunmaker Henry USA with 284 million impressions, MLB Shop (245 million) and the Home Depot (238 million). 

More than 80% of Amazon’s ads were desktop display ads, it says, while Henry USA 90% were viewed on desktop. Of the top five, only the Home Depot favored mobile display ads, with 95% of its ads appearing on mobile devices.