Gillette, a brand known for their grooming and bath products, has decided that they no longer need men. A new ad campaign attacks toxic masculinity and apparently we’re all supposed to now become soy-boys. Forbes reports on the debacle.
As Gillette has come under increasing competition from low priced competitors such as Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s, along with a resurgent Schick who is offering refill cartridges that fit Gillette razors, its market share has dropped from 70% to 50% over the past decade. Gillette has been forced to drop the price of its razors by about 15% over the past few years and is on the verge of losing master brand status.
It is within this competitive context that Gillette debuted its “We Believe in the Best in Men” ad campaign on its website yesterday, part of an overall shift to the slightly modified tag “The Best a Man Can Be.” The 1:48 length video starts out with images of remarkably troubled looking men as a narrator makes reference to bullying, sexual harassment, and toxic masculinity. It then poses the question “Is This the Best a Man Can Get.” The viewer then sees depictions of a series of very ugly and negative behaviors, including bullying, fighting, sexual harassment, and blatantly interfering with a woman speaking in the workplace. The ad goes on to state it is time for men to stop making excuses and to renounce the idea that “boys will be boys.” Gillette concludes that by calling for and showing images of men holding other men accountable and emphasizing that the boys of today will be the men of tomorrow.
Reaction to “We Believe in the Best in Men” has been overwhelmingly negative, with comments on its own Youtube channel running negative by an astonishing ten to one margin. There are those who really like the ad really like the campaign a lot and argue that it is simply trying to reinforce positive behavior. However, the much larger group who dislikes it includes many men who are saying the ad is insulting to men and full of stereotypes. What is perhaps most dangerous for Gillette, however, is the large number of posters who are threatening to never buy the product again.
Hmmm, everyone’s talking about that new Gillette ad that attacks ‘toxic masculinity’ & portrays white men as sexist pigs & non-white men as heroes. I wonder who’s behind this? Oh look, a Jewish-founded ad agency, committed to diversity, run by a Harvard graduate named Reiner
EST pic.twitter.com/ObjGOTPRNa
— The European Man (@TheEuropeanMan1) January 15, 2019
