The Best A Man Can Get....

Is probably not Gillette, but how would I know?

I'm feeling a bit like a broken record, with already a few posts over the last year and a bit about masculinity, but it seems like it's the hot topic of the day. So, off we go again!

If you're not sure what I'm talking about yet, Gillette recently released an ad that's become quite the hotbed of discussion. (Apparently it's #2 trending on YouTube. There you go.) Why? Because it's about toxic masculinity.

For those not down with the lingo yet, toxic masculinity isn't saying, "all men are toxic!" Rather, it's a way of describing a certain group of behaviours often portrayed in men, and generally associated with 'traditional masculinity', that could be called toxic. I do a decent post about it here, but I also recommend this video talking about it. Basically, it's a way of recognising that the traditional ways of saying what men should be like are actually super-duper unhelpful. Boys will be boys? Man up, toughen up? Bragging about sexual victories, alcoholic exploits, speeding or that time you beat someone up? More and more people are recognising now that these things aren't okay, and doing work to discourage these behaviours. But old habits die hard.

In steps Gillette. Which is surprising for a number of reasons. a) Their audience, which is largely men (hence the slogan). And, given b) their previous advertising, probably more of the 'traditional masculinity' or 'toxic masculinity' variety than not. They have a tendency to do ads along the lines of, "use our product, and scores of beautiful women will come running after you." Very healthy, right? Also, c) they're a big company. And finally, d) they have an interesting track record in terms of their moral compass, shall we say.

And yet, they do this. And the ad itself is quite well done. The video is pretty great, really, and it would be awesome to see more advertising like this happening.

But the response was overwhelmingly and immediately negative. A large number of people have now started a movement to boycott Gillette because of the ad, and though there are also many voices speaking out in its defence, not nearly as many. Why? Basically, see the reasons from earlier. Gillette's main audience is pretty much exactly the audience that is going to react against this sort of message. Plus, their motives are....questionable, at best.

So, where are we now? I'd argue that the content itself is done well. But because it's Gillette - people ask questions. People raise issues. Which is fair.

But it's also sad that one of the better pieces of content that has a call for action around toxic masculinity has been shouted down so quickly. Hopefully, in time, we'll see some that are welcomed more openly. I guess we'll see.