Charity highlights short UK paternity with stunt series

The Dad Shift has launched a guerrilla campaign that compares the UK’s two weeks of statutory paternity leave with everyday items that last just as long, or longer.

Created with VCCP creatives Sarah Lisgo and Agatha O’Neill, ‘Things That Last Longer Than UK Paternity Leave’ uses stickers, posters and balloons to make an awkward truth feel instantly visible.

Lettuce, bins, flowers, bread and eggs have all become props in a campaign designed to show how little time many fathers get at home with a newborn.

Parents around the country have played a central role, placing campaign stickers on supermarket items and delivering them to town halls, while larger format posters appeared on household bins waiting for collection.

A second wave saw campaign balloons appear near Parliament, Buckingham Palace and London landmarks including the Mary Poppins and Mr Bean statues.

Despite a modest budget and pro bono creative support, the work has already generated more than one million organic views and picked up coverage from ITV and the Press Association.

Alex Lloyd Hunder, co-founder of The Dad Shift said: “Real world participation from parents was central to the concept. From experience, we know this can supercharge a campaign’s impact on a tiny budget: parents are constituents of the MPs who need to vote on the legislation we’re fighting for, and they double up as volunteer photographers, press officers and spokespeople.”

For The Dad Shift, the point is simple. Two weeks is a strikingly short window for fathers, partners and families, and one the group believes is badly out of step with modern family life.

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