DadLabs: Reaching Out to the Online Dad

Despite the name, DadLabs is less focused on science and more focused on silliness — but I’m not complaining. Founded by Austin, Texas-based dads Troy Lanier, Clay Nichols and Brad Powell, the father-oriented collection of video series seeks to…well, seek out the post-boomer daddy audience. And what do they plan to do with that audience? Have some fun.

DadLabs is updated four times a week with episodes that cover all manner of issues facing the hip modern father, from messy snacks to biting to whether or not Goodnight Moon is too scary for kids. There’s an entire series called Wikipoopia that’s devoted strictly to the vast and varied topic of baby poop, and even an episode that offers advice on how to be both a good father and a football fan. Primary hosts “Daddy Clay” and “Daddy Brad” manage to combine deadpan humor and big energy in every installment, making them concise and entertaining, even for those outside the show’s target demographic.

While the guise of infotainment is ever-present, especially during the Gear Daddy episodes, there’s a bit of a Jackass frat-boy quality to these videos, a tone set right from the beginning when Daddy Brad hooks up breast pumps to his nipples. Despite the recitation of important facts about breast milk, the main purpose of the video seems to show what it looks like when a man tries to pump his own breasts, clearly an effort to deter other men from trying it themselves. (At least I hope it deters other men from trying it themselves. It looks terrifying to me, and lady breasts are built for such things.)

Each of the four channels — The Lab, The Lounge, Daditude, and Gear Daddy — focuses on a slightly different subject matter, but otherwise there isn’t much to distinguish the segments from one another. The effort put into branding is almost equal to the effort put into creating these videos, and given that the distinctions between each of the channels are minimal, I can’t help but wonder why they bother. It’s hard to imagine a DadLabs fan only tuning in for one of the specific segments, since what really matters is the site’s unique voice, and how well it’s targeted to its audience.

DadLabs’s biggest appeal is that it is meant for adults, with a fair amount of cussin’ and sexin’ — they occasionally push the “edgy” angle a bit too hard, but it’s definitely a take on modern parenting that doesn’t make it into magazines with smiling babies on the cover, a voice which is definitely underrepresented in parenting advice. The Daddys are quick to insist that they’re not cool, but it’s that slightly dorky spirit which makes them the perfect fit for the online crowd: both those with children and male genitalia, and those without.