Gillette has debuted a new campaign, “The Best Men Can Be,” with a minute and a half video that’s getting props and criticism.
The new messaging is a riff on “The Best a Man Can Get” tagline which debuted 30 years ago in 1989 during Super Bowl XXIII.
The new 90 second spot, titled “We Believe,” asks the viewer, “Is this the best a man can get?” as we hear terms like “bullying,” “MeToo movement,” and “masculinity” in the background.
The text of the voiceover reads:
“Is this the best a man can get? Is it? We can’t hide from it. It’s been going on far too long. We can’t laugh it off making the same old excuses. But something finally changed and there will be no going back. Because we, we believe in the best in men. To say the right thing, to act the right way. Some already are – in ways big and small. Some is not enough because the boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow.”
Visually, we see a group of boys chasing other boys while slurs of “loser,” “sissy,” and “freak” are printed across the screen; fathers at a backyard cookout watching boys fight while saying, “Boys will be boys;” sitcom and movie situations where adult men pretend to grope women.
“Bullying. Harassment. Is this the best a man can get?,” reads the video description. “It's only by challenging ourselves to do more, that we can get closer to our best. To say the right thing, to act the right way.”
There’s also a link to a new brand site, TheBestMenCanBe.org, which offers more insight into the new company positions on healthy masculinity.
“As a company that encourages men to be their best, we have a responsibility to make sure we are promoting positive, attainable, inclusive and healthy versions of what it means to be a man,” says Gillette at the new site.
In addition, Gillette pledges to donate $1 million per year for the next three years to non-profit organizations that set out to “inspire, educate and help men of all ages achieve their personal ‘best’ and become role models for the next generation.”
Sounds like a worthy message, yes?
But if you click over to the YouTube page where the video lives, the comments are over-the-top negative. At this writing, the clip has garnered 14K ‘thumbs down’ votes versus less than 2K ‘thumbs up’ votes.
It seems the far-right, conservative website InfoWars sent their pro-misogyny flying monkeys to the video page to troll.
I hope this anti-male propaganda film costed you a lot and that the outcome will cost you a lot more.
Let's try cultural castration as our marketing strategy.
Two kids play-fighting on the grass, which is probably one of the most fun things to do as a kid with your friends and they break it up. It just shows how detached these pig feminist demagogues are.
Gillette getting Cucked
Never shaving with Gillette again. Take your propoganda elsewhere.
My masculinity isn't toxic, your femininity is.
AdAge notes that Gillette’s new messaging joins other men’s personal care products, like Just For Men and Unilever’s Axe, that now aim for “an evolved outlook on masculinity.”
What do you think, readers? Is the new ad spot aspirational? Or insulting to men?
Are men stuck in a 'catch 22' in trying to be their best while attempting to fit into an ever-evolving definition of 'masculinity?"
What a great way to demonize
What a great way to demonize half of the population.
It’s really jaw-droppingly
It's really jaw-droppingly horrible. And so blatantly racist against white males specifically.
Yeah, they should have used a
Yeah, they should have used a racial abacus to balance out all the scenarios to make PC police as yourself happy. There is a black and Latino father saying "boys will be boys", a black man breaking up a disagreement between other black men. But you're right. They should have done the exact math and brought in all colors equally. How dare they. Just more of your negativity, RTE
I’m not alone. Tons of people
I'm not alone. Tons of people are mocking the not-so-subtle racism of the ad. Especially the scene with the noble black man saving the white girl from being approached by the aggressive white man. Uhhhh….yeahhhhhh…right.. (Do they know crime statistics?)
All you do is whine? Are you
All you do is whine? Are you a white man that is afraid of having your behavior corrected by a black man? Is that the real issue here? Knowing your history on here and all the comments, you're most likely thinking watch out, he's black, he might be Muslim and we know you would not want a Muslim correcting your behavior since you have so much hatred toward that community. It's so sad.
No, what’s sad is you as a
No, what's sad is you as a gay man defending Muslims. And, no, my bad behavior is unlikely to be corrected by a black man, or any man. If by any other race it would be an Asian or an Indian (the crime-free, behaved, achieving races), but…..I act correctly. My child wouldn't bully to begin with. Neither my son nor my daughter. And white men at barbecues don't need correcting. It's not THEIR sons who gaybash around the country or shoot up gay clubs in Orlando. If you find this commercial inoffensive then your self-hatred (or hatred of your family up north) is so ingrained you're probably way past the point of breaking out of it.
Your comments embody the
Your comments embody the exact definition of delusion: "maintaining fixed false beliefs even when confronted with facts, usually as a result of mental illness:"
So many people have tried to give you facts over time, yet you ignore them and push on with your unbridled hate. Seek help, please.
WTF…
WTF…
No self-hatred here, don't hate my family. I moved to Florida because I don't do anything with snow. It's a great commercial because I know what goes on in society and I see white men, black men, all colors of men and races could be better and could do better when dumb asses of our gender act inappropriately.
I wonder who was bullying all those gay kids at predominantly white schools. Must have been that one black boy and hey, he must have been a Muslim, even though he was my friend and went to Catholic Sunday school with me.
I won't pick apart or highlight your moronic post. Thanks for posting this comment that shows your racist, narrow-minded, elitist, self-centered ways. Down Muslims. Whites do no wrong, Asians and Indians behave themselves, your kids are perfect if you had them.
The ad is shockingly
The ad is shockingly offensive against males. Portrays them as simpleton cartoon characters. Who in their advertising department thought this was a good idea ??
The people that are offended
The people that are offended are the ones that feel there isn't an issue of "boys being boys." Thanks for raising your hand.
Don't forget, the other 1/3 or so of the men are stepping into situations to stop the "men from being men." It's also showing how good men can be if they just think about doing the right thing.
Men ARE good. We wouldn’t
Men ARE good. We wouldn't have this computer without them. Nor the car nor plane nor air conditioning nor…just about everything else you're using right now. Men are hot, too. That's why I'm homosexual. Now…as for girls…where are their scolding ads ? How many times recently have we seen girls so bullied by other girls (online and in schools) that suicide ensues ?
Men are good and bad. Jesus
Men are good and bad. Jesus Christ, you're thick. As for your creative man juices statements about they made this that and the other, I'm surprised you didn't say women helped, or brought up race, but anyway.
As for the women thing, maybe we should write to Gillette to change their slogan to the best a woman can get and do another ad, but at this time, it's more fun to see you get your panties in a twist about a company pointing out that we can do better as men. Or maybe they should get out the race/gender/sexuality abacus and make sure their 30 to 1 min piece points out bad things about people equally, but then again, wouldn't that be overly PC and you would bitch about that.
And why shouldn’t I get my
And why shouldn't I get my panties in a twist over misandry ? You do the same over Islamophobia (they're running concentration camps in Chechnya and you hide that they're Muslims). But who is more dangerous to both females and gays ? White suburban men at U.S. barbecues or Muslims (in the U.S. or wherever)?
No one is hiding anything
No one is hiding anything about anyone's religion in Chechnya. Yes, white suburban men may be more dangerous to females and gays since they are a larger population in the US than Muslims.
There are memes popping up
There are memes popping up all over online with the "Boys Will Be Boys" slogan, along with the captured (real-life) shots of firemen carrying people out of burning buildings and across floodwaters, etc., which….happy to say……pretty much drives you and the Gillette ad execs right up the wall. (But I do think it would have been cool to include some medical scientists in the memes too).
Yes, the Gillette ad said
Yes, the Gillette ad said that every boy and man are piles of shit. If that is what you got out of the ad, you are an imbecile. Look back at their 30+ years of advertising where they did highlight the firefighters etc. But one small ad showing that yes, men are great, but we can do better, gets you all worked up.
After this, bookstores should be burning all self help books, any type of therapists should be banned, and comments on report cards should never occur. Everyone is perfect just the way they are.
Sorry you feel that the Gillette ad is attacking men that may need a little work. Must have hit home.