Facing a declining share of the men’s razor market as new competitors like Harry’s and the Dollar Shave Club have entered the razor game, Gillette decided it was time to … risk alienating a large percentage of their potential customers with a politically charged declaration of war on the Left’s favorite bugaboo: “Toxic Masculinity.” The move has already triggered the response that any first-year marketing student could’ve predicted in today’s climate: a hashtag boycott movement by people fed up with identity politics, complete with images of people trashing their “anti-masculinity” razors.
The commercial, released by Procter & Gamble’s Gillette on Monday, asks, “Is this the best a man can get?” while video and audio clips focusing on sexual harassment, bullying and abuse play. At one point, a line of men standing with their arms crossed behind grills chant in response to all the awful behavior by men: “Boys will be boys!” The tone of the commercial shifts with the portrayal of the #MeToo movement as a turning point in our view of masculinity.
“Boys will be boys”? Isn’t it time we stopped excusing bad behavior? Re-think and take action by joining us at https://t.co/giHuGDEvlT. #TheBestMenCanBe pic.twitter.com/hhBL1XjFVo
— Gillette (@Gillette) January 14, 2019
The instant response online was overwhelmingly negative. While a few thanked Gillette for taking a stand against “toxic masculinity,” many of the early responses contained versions of the sentiment expressed in the first reply to the tweet: “Hope it was worth losing thousands of customers for your stupid identity politics calling all men bad.”
Predictably, as the ad has gone viral (the video in the original tweet is now at about 20 million views), #BoycottGillette has gained momentum, and not just among men. – READ MORE