1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Woke and shaved - Gillette ad and the people who hate it.

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Iron_chet, Jan 15, 2019.

  1. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    As Pankaj Bhalla, Gillette’s North America brand director, told CNN Business, “We expected debate. Actually a discussion is necessary. If we don’t discuss and don’t talk about it, I don’t think real change will happen.” He also clarified that the video “is not about toxic masculinity. It is about men taking more action every day to set the best example for the next generation. This was intended to simply say that the enemy for all of us is inaction.”

    I mean, it is a shaving company telling people what to do. Which, they can. I'm fine with it.

    But some people are bugged by it because they don't want a company to tell them those things.
     
  2. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    This is what I don't understand.

    Companies large and small tell those same people what to do hundreds of times every day.

    That this company has chosen to tell them men should set a better example has upset them.
     
  3. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    Yeah, that's not really why anyone is "bugged" by it.
     
  4. BitterYoungMatador2

    BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

    The good news is that most of the men angry about this are dudes you wouldn’t really want to hang out with in the first place.
     
  5. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    Oh, it's saying a little bit more than "men should set a better example." Let's not be dumb about it. There will be whole advertising class periods spent analyzing the ad and how it uses the #metoo movement as a launching point to discuss the "boys will be boys" concept - which, as we all know, is used for lots of different behaviors - and it's kind of choosy (read: smart) about how it depicts the problems, too.
     
  6. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    So "don't grope the interns" is an upsetting message?

    "Don't leer at strangers?"
     
    OscarMadison likes this.
  7. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    In these times, it's the best a (human) can get.
     
  8. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish here. I'm fine with the ad. I actually think it says good things. Simultaneously, I believe the ad is a little bit more subtle than the list you're laying out here. But if you think it's that simple, fine with me.
     
  9. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    I've got no squawk with you or anything you've posted.

    But I'm genuinely curious what people find upsetting about the commercial.

    You're suggesting there's a subtext to it deeper than "men should set a better example."

    Is that subtext what's upsetting people? If so, what is it?

    Or are they upset that a razor company is challenging their values and their behaviors?

    Interesting to me, as an aside, that the commercial clearly indicts TV for teaching men to be leering boors.

    Meta.
     
    Inky_Wretch likes this.
  10. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    They better get used to it. It will be the biggest trend for brands for the next few years.

    (And, I'm sure, those upset by Gillette are OK with and even support other brands telling them things.)
     
  11. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    Not just for brands. It's people in general. I wouldn't count out virtue/shaming squares in American cities in the next decade.
     
  12. Della9250

    Della9250 Well-Known Member

Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page