National Fatherhood Initiative Honors Nissan with Fatherhood Award(TM)

National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) has honored Nissan with a Fatherhood Award™ for its “Baby” television commercial at its headquarters for the Americas.

“Baby,” which ends with the tagline, “Innovation for Daddy; Innovation for Everyone,” highlights the joy men experience when they learn they are going to become fathers. In the ad, an African-American father, upon hearing the news that his wife is pregnant, rushes to his driveway and transforms his Nissan 370Z sports car into a more family-friendly Nissan Maxima. He then runs back into the house happily yelling, “We’re gonna have a baby!”

With 1 in 3 children in America living in father-absent homes, and nearly 2 in 3 African-American children living in father-absent homes, Nissan’s ad communicates an important message about the importance of fathers being involved in their children’s lives.

Moreover, under Nissan’s tagline of “Innovation for all,” Nissan is providing vehicles that help today’s dads meet the transportation needs of their families in a safe, efficient, and stylish way.

Roland C. Warren, president of NFI, said, “Powerful, positive messages about fatherhood, like the one in Nissan’s ‘Baby’ ad, play a critical role in promoting responsible fatherhood in America. NFI is honored to recognize Nissan for its important contribution to this dialogue.”

The award was presented to Nissan at a press event at its Franklin, Tenn. headquarters this morning. The ad, along with a new NFI PSA called “Be a Dad” were shown to the Nissan employees in attendance. Warren presented the award to Jon Brancheau, vice president, Nissan Marketing.

“Nissan recognizes the important role fathers play in the lives of their family,” said Brancheau. “That’s why the National Fatherhood Initiative award is such a tremendous honor. Our team remains committed to designing and building vehicles that stand up to the most challenging yet rewarding job on the planet – parenting.”

Inaugurated in 1997, the Fatherhood Awards are presented each year to individuals, corporations, and organizations that make a substantial contribution to strengthening involved, responsible, and committed fatherhood in their work or personal lives. Past Fatherhood Award™ winners include luminaries such as James Earl Jones, Tony Dungy, Tim McGraw, and Tom Selleck, and corporations such as Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, AT&T, Chevrolet, and IBM. All past awardees can be viewed at www.fatherhood.org/fatherhoodawards.

As the premier fatherhood renewal organization in the country, National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) works in every sector and at every level of society to engage fathers in the lives of their children. NFI is the #1 provider of fatherhood resources in the nation. Since 2004, through FatherSOURCE, its national resource center, NFI has distributed over 5.7 million resources, and has trained over 7,400 practitioners on how to deliver programming to dads. NFI is the most quoted authority on fatherhood in America. Since 2009, NFI has been mentioned in over 1,200 news stories, and makes regular appearances in national media to discuss the importance of involved, responsible, and committed fatherhood. Learn more at fatherhood.org.

About Nissan Americas
In the Americas, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program and was recognized as an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency in 2010 and 2011. More information on Nissan in North America, the Nissan LEAF and zero emissions can be found at www.nissanusa.com.

MEDIA CONTACT

Vincent DiCaro
Vice President of Public Affairs
240-912-1270; vdicaro@fatherhood.org