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

[Alma]

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.

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.

 

[Azrael]

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.

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

"Don't leer at strangers?"

 

[Starman]

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

"Don't leer at strangers?"

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

 

[Alma]

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

"Don't leer at strangers?"

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.

 

[Azrael]

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.

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]

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.

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.)

 

[Alma]

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

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

 

[Della9250]

 

[HanSenSE]

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.)

Agreed. Consumers expect social responsibility from the brands they deal with.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

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

One person's "virtue signaling" is another's "authenticity" and "transparency."

As somebody running a marketing department, I can tell you the hook-and-bullet folks respond better to messaging about how we're helping protect their hobbies than about the widgets we sell.

 

[DanOregon]

Think about it. People are upset about Gillette "taking a stand" on toxic masculinity. Suddenly anyone who doesn't buy their stuff is suddenly suspect. I do imagine some brand with marginal market share might start touting itself as "for men who are proud to be a man" - I just don't think it is a long term play.

 

[Alma]

One person's "virtue signaling" is another's "authenticity" and "transparency."

Yes, I would agree with this.

My sense - and if I'm wrong, I'm glad I'll be wrong, though it won't be for awhile - is we moving toward far more rigid definitions of acceptable and unacceptable "authenticity."

Since you run a marketing department, did anything stand out to you about the ad? Or was it really as straightforward as "be less terrible, men."

 

[DanOregon]

 

[Alma]

Think about it. People are upset about Gillette "taking a stand" on toxic masculinity. Suddenly anyone who doesn't buy their stuff is suddenly suspect. I do imagine some brand with marginal market share might start touting itself as "for men who are proud to be a man" - I just don't think it is a long term play.

I don't think the ad has much to do with selling shaving products. I'm not sure it'll work financially. I think we're potentially moving beyond that in culture - beyond efficacy. The morality of the ad is the point. As in, if you don't agree with Gillette's ad, Gillette does not want you buying its razors.

I mean, ESPN, as an example, made, for several years, decisions that it had to know wouldn't work for ratings and its brand. The former leadership just didn't care.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Since you run a marketing department, did anything stand out to you about the ad? Or was it really as straightforward as "be less terrible, men."

We were talking about it today in the pit with the graphic designers and social media team. Nobody really picked up on anything remarkable (except for the debut of that messaging).

The most cynical of the group (not me!) questioned whether Gillette was actually targeting women with that ad more than men.

 

[cyclingwriter2]

If Tim Tebow gave a speech telling young men to be good people, treat women with respect and help strangers in the ad, the right would have given thunderous applause. The left would be roundly condemning Gillette for using Tebow.

 

[Azrael]

The most cynical of the group (not me!) questioned whether Gillette was actually targeting women with that ad more than men.

I had that thought, too.

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

colin kaepernick using a gillette to shave his knees before protesting the anthem in this house we use dollar shave club razors and shave standing up during the anthem like and share if you agree

 

[DanOregon]

But you shave your legs? Not too manly.

 

[Azrael]

If Tim Tebow gave a speech telling young men to be good people, treat women with respect and help strangers in the ad, the right would have given thunderous applause. The left would be roundly condemning Gillette for using Tebow.

True as that might be, Mr. Tebow sort of loads the hypothetical question with his well-known religious beliefs. Gillette would be getting scalded for Tebow's position on abortion, not because he suggests keeping your hands off the interns.