Anybody who looks to P&G (or any other corportation) as a source of moral guidance is a total fucking moron.
That said, anybody offended by their hamfisted moneygrubbing-as-social message commercial need only make their displeasure known by spending their money elsewhere. And…this is the good part…in this wondrous era of free speech and political activism, you have the internet and social media to allow you to recruit others to your position.
For my part, I already don’t buy their shitty, overpriced shaving products. I use a brush and a mug and an old fashioned safety razor. None of the soaps, blades, or other consumables I use come from them. They are free to preach whatever social message they think will improve their bottom line without risking my custom.
For now, let’s remove the context of a commercial whose purpose is to make money. How should toxic masculinity be addressed? This ad says, “here are some troubling behaviors, and we can do better than that.” It’s not making judgment calls about people, it’s making calls about behavior.
But you say we can’t do this because it’s still telling people they are wrong. So what’s the right approach?
While the intent may have been about behavior, the interpretation is entirely up to the viewer, which has been interpreted as an attack on men (rightly or wrongly, that’s how it is being perceived).
As to what I think is better?
Well, one, I don’t think a razor blade ad can take on such a complex issue in a neat and tidy manner. If anything I think the history of Gillette Razor blade ads could be pointed to as part of the problem modern men have with self-esteem and the definition of masculinity. (My personal belief, right or wrong, is that toxic masculinity is a self-esteem issue) I don’t have a catalog of razor blade ads stored in my brain, but my recollection is that there is a persistent message of “this is what a man looks like” in them, while 95% of men do not look like that.
So maybe start with visual diversity. Maybe show men doing positive stuff.
More Carrot, Less Stick.
This ad is all over media, it’s getting lots of attention and lots of praise. I suspect that most men who shave use the same brand of razor and shaving cream that their mom bought for them for the first time. This isn’t about selling to old men, they are by their nature, dying out; this ad is about selling to the next generation, the ones whose moms are heading out to the grocery stores as we speak.
So shaving with Gillette will make me a better person, and with 50% less skin irritation. Works for me.
“Buy our product. It will make you anti-bullying anti-misogynistic, and anti-toxic masculinity. And chicks love that.”
Regards,
Shodan
Some might say *most *ads, since ever, are about telling women they can do better.
Okay, that makes sense to me. I could quibble that the majority of male shavers are not ‘dying out’ quite yet (I hope not!), but the idea to capture the emerging teen market has value.
[quote=“Scumpup, post:21, topic:827873”]
Anybody who looks to P&G (or any other corportation) as a source of moral guidance is a total fucking moron.
That said, anybody offended by their hamfisted moneygrubbing-as-social message commercial need only make their displeasure known by spending their money elsewhere. And…this is the good part…in this wondrous era of free speech and political activism, you have the internet and social media to allow you to recruit others to your position…QUOTE]And think about that from Gillette’s perspective: the kind of creepy moron who is so offended by this ad as to go on social media to rave about it is reinforcing Gillette’s message that they are an enlightened company. After facebook post about this ad by the loudmouth uncle who ruins every Thanksgiving with his ranting is an endorsement for the ad. It practically writes itself: “don’t be like one of these incel losers, use Gillette.”
In America there is no concept, whether it’s god, or motherhood, or rebellion, or just basic decency that isn’t used to sell cheap crap to fill a landfill.
You don’t have to associate any particular behavior with any particular group of people. You can just condemn the behavior itself, it’s really that simple. Anyone who has trouble wrapping their mind around this concept more often than not tends to view the world in simpleminded tribalistic and bigoted ways in my experience.
Most of the historic evils that have happened in the past that we now condemn stem from such people considering it a virtue to eliminate bad behavior by mindlessly attacking large numbers of people grouped into one “bad” category or another.
The problem with the ad approach is that anytime people feel that something is directed against *them *personally, they immediately shut down and clamp down and refuse to listen. If I’m not mistaken, this is something that is emphasized frequently in corporate/HR training and professional seminars about how to communicate: Never make someone feel like there is something to be taken personally.
There are a great many things that people are willing to hear out as long as it is perceived objectively or in a detached way. The moment they feel insulted or personally singled out, it’s game over for dialogue.
I thought “meh” about the ad, but this is my conclusion as well - they desire creating imagery that will curry favor with those who are likely to be buying men’s shaving products - women. Simple as that. And any “controversy” this created can only be good news for Gillette.
The first Gillette ads I ever heard connected the brand to professional boxing. That was a long time ago. The path from glorifying the world of men paid to beat each other to brain damage to this ad encouraging us to be better men is a good direction to travel. That’s my opinion.
Gillette wants to sell products, of course, and the number of times the brand name and its familiar slogan flashes on the screen makes that clear. That’s no reason to get all cynical about it. Capitalism is a good thing.
This is similar to the Dove ads pushing acceptance of women of all body shapes, while selling soap. There’s no harm in doing good in the name of profit.
There’s also no virtue, since they’d say exactly the opposite if they thought that would make them more money. We’ll set aside the question of whether any of these socially conscious money grabs ever made the world an even microscopically better place.
No virtue in doing good? I don’t quite follow you, there.
There were men doing bad things and men doing good things in the commercial – I’m not sure how that could possibly be seen as an attack on men. If it’s an attack on anything, it’s an attack on behavior that is nearly universally agreed upon as morally wrong.
Obviously this ad (like pretty much all ads) was designed to help make more money. IMO trying to make money in a socially responsible and positive way is better than trying to make money without such social responsibility and positivity, so I like the ad.
I just saw the commercial. It’s not really offensive, just terrible in the most hamfisted pandering way imaginable in my opinion. I think it’s too cringy to be offensive.
While I don’t have a firm opinion on Gillette’s intention, did anyone notice that almost all of the comments on the video used pejorative terms from the White supremacist movement until they were deleted?
Specifically “cuck” and “soy boy”
Anyway quite the hubbub for something that wasn’t really super progressive and just called people out to be better people.
The cynical part of me thinks they are trying to duplicate the financial success Nike had after the Kirkpatrick thing. Or trying to maintain market share they are losing to some of the newer cheaper brands.
Virtue is something you do because it is right, regardless of the effect it has on you. You do it even if it harms you. Any “good” done by this commercial, or the Dove commercial or the vintage “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” commercial was entirely incidental to making money by selling a product to people through appealing to THEIR wanting to feel virtuous.
That’s what I thought too; fine message, inept execution.
They’d have done a lot better by taking a positive spin showing men setting a positive example and modeling their preferred behaviors, rather than something quite so lecturey and oriented toward pointing out bad behaviors.
I mean, I felt kind of put on the spot, and I don’t even do the negative things in the commercial!
I like the ad and the fact that Piers Morgan hates it makes me love it even more.