The default and stereotypical target for packaged goods is the busy mom. Moms are often portrayed as super-human caregivers, while dads are portrayed as useless buffoons (and often the foil to the uber-moms). But for General Mills, this default target posed a problem: moms aren’t buying “fun” cereal anymore. The entire category is in decline. And while Peanut Butter Cheerios, at its core, is responsible, it’s also seen as a little more fun—just like dads.

Knowing that today’s dads are co-parenting and co-shopping than ever before, we saw an opportunity to defy the gender stereotype in advertising and target a new audience: dads. But first, we needed to reverse decades worth of convention, remove the “lazy buffoon” label, and celebrate the important, but different, role dads play in child-care. To redefine gender roles, we needed to portray a competent, loving father, who’s not only involved but is also proud of his role as an active parent.

So we branded Peanut Butter Cheerios “The Official Cereal of Dadhood” and launched #HowToDad, a campaign that highlighted this important role dads play in their kids’ lives. This integrated campaign included online film, pre-rolls, display ads, TV, web content, and community engagement.

At the core of our campaign was the #HowToDad anthem, which we released as a social film, along with four related 15-second videos as pre-rolls. On HowToDad.ca, our microsite, we shared fun pieces of content that celebrated all the great aspects of life as a dad, which we also used as social content on Facebook and Twitter. When real dads started taking over #howtodad to share their support and show off how they dad, we created the #HowToDad awards—a community engagement component featuring customized trophies that rewarded them for doing a great job.

#HowToDad was extremely successful in driving high awareness and engagement across all of our channels. People all over the world spoke up to show their support of the campaign, and praised Peanut Butter Cheerios’ positive portrayal of Dads. The results: 93% positive social sentiment; 150% of General Mills’ targeted sales objective, a 300% global Cheerios brand lift, and over 56,200,000 earned impressions. The videos have over 5 million views, and we’ve received 90,000+ social engagements from over 140 countries.