Family Mealtimes- McCain ‘We are Family’ campaign #ad

Meal times. You either love them or hate them. In general I hate them if I am honest. My husband works long hours and very rarely do we get to eat as a family so it is usually just myself and the girls. But that’s not the thing that I don’t like about meal times! It is having to deal with the fussiness and getting them to finish and finish within a reasonable time! I have never come across such slow eaters. I kid you not but it can take them 45 minutes to eat breakfast which consists of a small bowl of cereal! Like seriously?

However, putting that aside it is nice when the whole family does all get together at mealtimes. This usually happens at Eid and on the odd occasion throughout the year. Life is just so busy with work, when one member of the family has a day off, another is at work. Take this week, my husband had a day off and my brother was planning to join us but at the last minute had to work. So when we do get together it does make it extra special.

Eating with just the girls can feel a bit lonely at times so we often find ourselves at the grandparents house, having a meal with them. Well actually during the holidays we are pretty much having lunch there everyday! And the bonus, it saves on me doing all the cooking!

Although usually I am the one that ends up doing the serving!

The word ‘family’ these days is so diverse. It doesn’t necessarily mean the traditional family unit of parents and children. In some families, grandparents are playing a huge role in helping to bring up the children and even friends or aunts and uncles are deeply involved. I remember when I returned to work after my first child my parents played a big role in helping bring up my eldest, even dropping her off at nursery and collecting her in addition to making her meals. But is this diversity actually acknowledged and shown? McCain conducted some research as part of its ‘We Are Family’ campaign and the research has shown that more needs to be done to demonstrate the truth of what it means to be a family in 2017.

The research has shown that 49% of Brits do not feel popular culture portrays the reality of modern day family life and in addition to this 84% can’t recall seeing anything in popular culture that featured a family like their own in the last 6 months. Clearly something needs to be done to show the reality and 45% of Brits agree with this.

So this has lead to the launch of McCain’s ‘We Are Family’ campaign where they have partnered with the National Portrait Gallery to celebrate real modern families. Their latest brand advert also uses real families to reflect the diverse reality of families and have done this via mealtimes.

What is your family like and do you want to get involved and help show real modern families? McCain and the National Portrait Gallery are looking for families to feature in the ‘We Are Family’ National Portrait Gallery display. For 2 weeks from September 20th, there will be a display of everyday people at the National Portrait Gallery and the photos will be shot by critically acclaimed professional photographer Sian Davey. If you would like to get involved then you can get more information by visiting the McCain Facebook page.