Your Guide to Father’s Day CTV Audiences 2026

Father’s Day spending reached a record $24 billion in 2025, up from $22.4 billion the year prior, and 2026 shows no signs of slowing that upward momentum. But the total spend figure only tells part of the story — understanding who is actually celebrating, and why, is what gives advertisers a real edge.

Who Is the Father’s Day Shopper?

Research from the Medill Spiegel Research Center at Northwestern University shows that the strongest predictors of who participates in Father’s Day include:

• Married individuals and parents, who index significantly higher for celebration than their single and childless counterparts.
• Gen-Z and Millennials, who are more likely to celebrate than older generations.
• African American and Hispanic consumers, who also index higher for participation.
• Higher-income households, who tend to both celebrate and spend more.

When it comes to who shoppers are buying for, nearly half say they are purchasing for a father or stepfather, while a quarter are shopping for a husband. Those are two distinct buyer profiles with different emotional drivers and different creative triggers that advertisers should not treat as the same audience. The NRF also notes that shoppers between 35 and 44 spend significantly more than other age groups, making them a particularly high-value segment worth targeting directly.

What shoppers are looking for has also shifted. The top priority for shoppers is finding a gift that feels unique or different, followed by something that creates a special memory. Personal care, special outings, and clothing are all gift categories growing year over year, reflecting a Father’s Day audience that is increasingly focused on how a gift feels rather than what it costs. Subscription boxes also hit an all-time high, with 43% of shoppers planning to gift one in 2025, up from 34% when the category was first tracked in 2019.

The Father’s Day shopping window is compressed, with nearly 90% of purchases happening within the month leading up to the holiday and roughly 25% of shoppers waiting until the final week. That pattern is unlikely to change in 2026, which means reaching the right audience before decisions are made is where CTV advertising has a measurable advantage — putting your brand in front of high-intent shoppers while there is still time to influence their purchases.

Father’s Day Keyword Trends

To get an even clearer picture of the Father’s Day shopper, we pulled impression data from the May-June 2025 window and looked at which keyword categories were generating the most volume. Here is what the data revealed.

The Father’s Day Buyer Is Already Brand-Loyal
Lining up with NRF findings, MNTN impression data from the May-June window shows unusually strong volume across subscription and loyalty-oriented categories. This suggests the Father’s Day buyer is someone already in an active purchasing relationship with brands. For advertisers, that means the Father’s Day audience rewards retention-focused creative just as much as prospecting.

Personal Care Has Become a Primary Father’s Day Gifting Category
We’ve already covered how personal-care for Dads has become a big focus for Father’s Day gifting, and that continues to be a trend. Volume across grooming kits, shaving products, skincare, and beard care in MNTN impression data reflects a broader cultural shift in how people think about gifting for dads. Advertisers in personal care don’t need to work around Father’s Day as a tentpole moment — they can lead with it.

The Father’s Day Buyer Wants to Give an Experience
Cooking classes and workshops are among the highest-impression categories in the entire dataset during this window. Notably, these skew heavily toward shared activities rather than solo pursuits, with categories like family cooking and skill-building experiences dominating over individual ones. Advertisers in experiential categories should lean into that framing in their creative, where the emotional driver is togetherness.

The Father’s Day Buyer Might Be Shopping Under Pressure
High volume in discount and deal-seeking categories suggests a meaningful portion of Father’s Day buyers are shopping late and making decisions quickly. Paired with the strong subscription and loyalty data, a picture emerges of two distinct buyer modes: planners who are already brand-engaged and convert early, and last-minute shoppers who need a compelling offer to push them over the line. Advertisers who can serve both with brand-building creative earlier in the window and offer-driven creative closer to the date are best positioned to capture the full range of Father’s Day demand.

Know Your Audience, Win the Window

The Father’s Day audience data points to a shopper who skews younger, values meaning over convenience, and is increasingly drawn to experiences and personal care over traditional gift categories. Two distinct buyer behaviors exist within the Father’s Day window: the brand-loyal planner who converts early, and the last-minute deal-seeker who needs a compelling offer to get there. Advertisers who understand who they are talking to (and when) will be the ones best positioned to make the most of their Father’s Day campaigns.