The divorced dad is undergoing a commercial image makeover. A new Ford Motor campaign shows two parents, two children and a dog spending a weekend shopping, driving and hanging out at the beach. At
the end of the day, the dad is dropped off at his place. "Thanks for inviting me this weekend," he says, while hugging his children. "Sure," responds his apparent ex-wife, before driving away in the
Ford Freestyle. "Divorce is so common that I don't think people view it as sad and depressing anymore," says Allan P. Adamson, a managing director at corporate identity firm Landor Associates. "It's
on every movie, every TV show." An ad from AstraZeneca for the drug Nexium depicts a man going through his day preparing dinner and reminding his three children to finish their homework and eat their
vegetables--no mother in sight. Last year, there were about 1.07 million divorces in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But only recently have ads reflected
divorced or separate parents as happy, adjusted and functional.
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