LIFE sized figures of George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Harry Styles and Kelly Osbourne have been displayed around the malls and shoppers are invited to visit the Centre’s facebook page and identify their fathers.
"We wanted to make every dad in Grays a superstar so it seemed natural to enlist
some A-list support," says Kris Weeks, Grays Shopping Centre. "Our stores are well stocked with Father’s Day cards and gifts and we hope spotting a few celebrities around the Centre will remind children to reward their celebridads!"
The Centre has commissioned national research into fathers and Father’s Day, surveying 1,000 people throughout the UK.
When asked which famous father was the best role-model, David Beckham was selected by 17% followed closely by Prince William who ruled for 12% of the survey. William’s father, Prince Charles, fared less well, chosen by a tiny 2% along with other less popular celebridads Simon Cowell, Ozzy Osbourne and Gary Lineker.
Those surveyed planned to spend an average of £24.36 on Father’s Day gifts with sons being more generous than girls with a £28.49 investment in paternal pampering over the £22.01 daughters plan to spend.
Families in Grays are more generous than the national average with a spend of £27.81.
The most popular gifts planned for 2015 are Wine, Beer and Spirits selected by 13% of the survey followed by DVDs and CDs and Books and 17% plan to send a card.
Some of the more unorthodox gifts purchased in the past are slug pellets, a sellotape dispenser, 2b pencils and a pork pie.
Gifts aside, we asked our survey some questions to analyse the pull of paternity.
When it comes to social media, a surprising 8.3% had already accepted their fathers as facebook friends – though a more secretive 42% would block their fathers on facebook.
When it comes to parental support, most children were a lot more willing to visit the "bank of dad" than the kitchen or counseling couch. 16.20% would approach their father for a loan while only 2.5% went to him for recipe tips and only a lamentable 2.0% would turn to their fathers for a heart to heart on their love lives.
Fathers in the London area were particularly valued as the source of help with their car with 23.10% of children in the area seeking them out for advice.
"Fathers can play such an important role in the family whether their children are terrible toddlers, angry adolescents, stay at home kids or adults,” continues Kris. "Father’s Day is a great opportunity for children to show their appreciation with a gift and card – it’s not only a token but could be an investment in the next request for some fatherly funding!"
