Oh Dairy Queen, what happened?

I've been loving Dairy Queen's TV commercials for the last few years. I know some have stirred up controversy (like the current one featuring the pre-teen girl who is apparently already using her flirty, feminine charms to make the boys buy her things), but I love 'em anyways.



So what the heck happened? All this week I've been seeing the DQ ad where a 70's dad beats his own son at arm wrestling in the name of finishing off the Dairy Queen deliciousness. Okay, so far so good. Reminiscent of their other commercials where families show each other up:



But then all of a sudden it's the present, and the grown-up son lets his elderly father win. What's up with that? Why didn't the son whip his father's prone-to-gloating butt? It's not like they haven't had people do much, much worse to each other.



I hope the Dairy Queen advertising team hasn't gone as soft as their ice cream. DQ has provided a consistent high point during commercial breaks for years now. At least if they do change their tactics to less hilarious ones, there'll always be YouTube.