Controversial #MeToo-inspired Gillette advert calling for men to improve their behaviour prompts 15 complaints to UK advertising watchdog despite not being shown in Britain
- Critics claim ad is an assault on masculinity and portrays men as inherently bad
- Gillette commercial subverts the razor brand’s famous ‘The Best A Man Can Get’
- Its advert challenges traditional views of what it means to be a successful man
- ASA receives ‘small handful of complaints’ but cannot make any official rulings
Britons are so angry about a controversial Gillette advert that they have complained to the UK advertising watchdog – despite it not being shown in the country.
The new ad, which critics claim is an assault on masculinity and portrays men as inherently bad, has sparked 15 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority.
The commercial subverts the razor brand’s famous ‘The Best A Man Can Get’ slogan by challenging traditional views of what it means to be a successful man.
In one scene of the ad, a man speaks over his female colleague and explains what she means
The ASA confirmed it had received ‘a small handful of complaints’ but insisted it cannot make an official ruling because the ad has not been broadcast in the UK.
It features news clips of reporting on the #MeToo movement, as well as images showing sexism in films, in boardrooms, and of violence between boys.
-
Firefighters forced to apologise for putting up sign telling…
‘I just want to shave, not feel bad about myself’: Customers…
Carol Vorderman bites back at Twitter follower who SLAMS her…
Meet the VERY woke women (and their eye-popping campaigns)…
Share this article
This is backed by a voice over asking: ‘Bullying, the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment, toxic masculinity, is this the best a man can get?’
But among the critics of the ad – which viewers in Britain have seen online via the Gillette YouTube channel – is DailyMail.com US editor-at-large Piers Morgan.
Critics claim the Gillette advert an assault on masculinity and portrays men as inherently bad
The ad shows one man stopping his friend as he catcalls a woman who is walking by
The Good Morning Britain host took to Twitter, writing: ‘I’ve used Gillette razors my entire adult life but this absurd virtue-signalling PC guff may drive me away to a company less eager to fuel the current pathetic global assault on masculinity.’
How Gillette was taken over in 2005 for £35bn
- Company founded by American businessman King Camp Gillette 118 years ago.
- Family were French Huguenots that relocated to England in the late 16th century before emigrating to Massachusetts in the USA in 1630.
- Gillette was credited with creating the first disposable razor that worked and he founded the American Safety Razor Company in September, 1901.
- Production began in 1903, when it sold a total of 51 razors and 168 blades. This rose to 90,884 razors and 123,648 blades the following year.
- Gillette sold out the business to fellow director John Joyce in the 1920s and, despite amassing a large fortune, almost went bankrupt during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
- In the early 1900s, the company’s razors and blades were marketed as being ‘truly affordable to every man regardless of economic class’.
- Today its products, particularly packs of disposable razor heads, are among the most expensive on the high street, so creating a gap in the market for new cheaper rivals.
- In 2009, the Daily Mail reported claims that disposable blades which cost as little as 5p each to make were being sold for £2.43 – a mark-up of more than 4,750per cent.
- Today a pack of four Gillette Fusion5 Razor Blades is £11.79 – £2.95 each.
- The Gillette Sensor, which debuted in 1990, was the first to have spring-loaded blades. The Sensor for Women arrived soon after and was nearly identical, but for a wider cartridge head.
- The Gillette Company, which is based in Boston, was taken over by Procter & Gamble in 2005 in a deal worth £35billion.
- Most recent incarnation of the spring loaded blade razor, the Gillette Fusion, launched in 2006. It has five blades on the front, and a single sixth blade on the rear for precision trimming.
- Marketing campaigns have been fronted by the sports stars Roger Federer, Thierry Henry and Tiger Woods.
- The company’s razors are used by 750 million men in more than 200 million countries, according to Euromonitor.
- Gillette’s annual sales are put at just over £5billion and it is placed at 32 in the Forbes list of the world’s most valuable brands.
The brand is owned by the US conglomerate Procter & Gamble and the initiative was signed off by the president of the company’s global grooming business, Gary Coombe, who is a British father of two.
The commercial, which appears on the Gillette YouTube channel and was directed by a celebrated British feminist, is part of a wider trend against the use of gender stereotypes in advertising.
Just last month, the UK advertising watchdog banned what they describe as ‘harmful’ gender stereotypes from TV commercials such as the traditional view of the housewife.
Also outlawed are images and themes which suggest men are useless when it comes to doing what used to be considered female roles, such as changing a nappy.
The move by Gillette, which is owned by Procter & Gamble, triggered such a furious response that some men, including Morgan, threatened a boycott.
The vast majority of the tens of thousands of comments posted on the YouTube video were largely negative, even vitriolic. Seven times as many gave it a thumbs down as a thumbs up.
Viewers – mostly from the USA – said they would never buy Gillette products again or that the advert was ‘feminist propaganda’.
One angry viewer wrote: ‘How about you set an example by not demeaning and demonising men? Violence and bullying has nothing to do with gender.’
The ad was directed by Kim Gehrig at the UK-based production agency, Somesuch.
She was behind the hugely successful 2015 advertising campaign for Sport England under the slogan ‘This Girl Can’ as well as an ad for Swedish feminine hygiene brand Libresse, which used the slogan ‘Viva La Vulva’.
One hard-line critic of the ad wrote: ‘She’s a hard core British progressive feminist. This explains why the ad is dripping with misandry and sexism.’
The Conservative Canadian political commentator Ezra Levant wrote: ‘A shaving ad written by pink-haired feminist scolds is about as effective as a tampon ad written by middle aged men… Count this 30-year customer out.’
Other critics of the advertisement, suggested women and teenage girls were likely to be more guilty of bullying than men.
Some of the more bizarre, outlandish and extreme critics went so far as to liken Gillette’s approach to the sort of propaganda tactics used by the Nazis.
Supporters of the approach taken by Gillette point out that much of the commercial is devoted to celebrating how men can and do challenge bad behaviour under the theme ‘We believe in the best in men’.
The advert highlights how the mistreatment of women has been normalised over the years
A boy runs through a living room as a mother consoles her son who is a victim of bullying
Here it shows men challenging others who appear to be harassing or leering at young women, stepping in to stop bullying and caring for young children.
And it focuses on men and fathers setting a positive example for young boys.
The American company insisted the commercial is part of a broader initiative to promote ‘positive, attainable, inclusive and healthy versions of what it means to be a man’.
It has formed a partnership with the Building A Better Man project, which seeks to reduce violent behaviour in men, and The Boys and Girls Club of America, which helps young men develop better social and communication skills.
It is also donating $1million a year for the next three years to US charities aimed at supporting men.
The company’s president Gary Coombe said: ‘By holding each other accountable, eliminating excuses for bad behaviour, and supporting a new generation working toward their personal ‘best,’ we can help create positive change that will matter for years to come.’
Mr Coombe, who has been with P&G since leaving Birmingham’s Aston University, added: ‘We knew that joining the dialogue on ‘Modern Manhood’ would mean changing how we think about and portray men at every turn.
‘Effective immediately, Gillette will review all public-facing content against a set of defined standards meant to ensure we fully reflect the ideals of Respect, Accountability and Role Modelling in the ads we run, the images we publish to social media, the words we choose, and more.
‘For us, the decision to publicly assert our beliefs while celebrating men who are doing things right was an easy choice that makes a difference.’
A spokesman for P&G said: ‘As a brand that has been part of manhood for over a century we have a responsibility to influence culture and use our voice to champion positive male behaviours.
‘We expected debate – discussion is necessary. This campaign encourages all men to strive to be the best versions of themselves every day to set the right example for the next generation.’
An ASA spokesman said today: ‘We are assessing the complaints (as we do with any we receive) but it’s important to stress that no further action, such as launching an investigation, is taking place at this time.
‘It’s worth mentioning that this advert has not been broadcast in the UK so currently, this falls outside our remit.’
Frame by frame, how boorish men are shown the error of their ways
‘We can’t laugh it off . . .’ That’s how a sombre voiceover (American, like everyone else in the advert) intones the #MeToo message, as three youths watch a fictionalised Sixties-style U.S. sitcom, where a man makes a groping gesture towards the family maid.
‘What I actually think she’s trying to say . . .’ A female executive sits in silent humiliation while the alpha male boss of the board — with his hand resting patronisingly on her shoulder — ‘explains’ her idea for his male colleagues.
‘It’s been going on for far too long,’ tuts the sonorous voiceover.
‘Boys will be boys . . .’ The air is thick with charcoal smoke, the smell of burgers and testosterone as a line of men watch two boys scrap.
But later, when the mood of the ad changes, an enlightened male breaks up the fight, saying: ‘This is not how we treat each other.’
‘Bro, not cool. Not cool . . .’ The right-on message continues as a leering man outside a cafe prepares to move in on a woman passer-by, presumably to sexually harass her.
His friend restrains him, as the voiceover says: ‘Men need to hold other men accountable.’
Oddly, given that it’s a Gillette ad, neither of them has shaved.
‘Smile, sweetie . . .’ A poolside party is disrupted by lecherous louts, one holding a camcorder, who hassle two girls in bikinis.
Enter stage right a ‘woke’ male, who admonishes them by saying: ‘Come on!’ The voiceover rams home the message about masculine frightfulness: ‘The boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow.’
PIERS MORGAN: I’m so sick of this war on masculinity and I’m not alone – with their pathetic man-hating ad, Gillette have just cut their own throat
It’s been a very bad week for men.
Yesterday, the American Psychological Association released a set of guidelines that condemned traditional masculinity as ‘harmful.’
Specifically, it stated that male traits like ‘stoicism’, ‘competitiveness’, ‘achievement’, ‘eschewal of the appearance of weakness’, ‘adventure’, and ‘risk’ are bad and should be expunged.
I literally choked on my bacon-and-sausage sandwich (my contribution to Veganuary) when I read this absurd load of PC-crazed bilge.
It’s basically saying that it’s wrong, and harmful, to be masculine, to be a man.
As David French, a writer for the National Review, put it in his withering response to the report: ‘The assault on traditional masculinity – while liberating to men who don’t fit traditional norms – is itself harmful to the millions of young men who seek to be physically and mentally tough, to rise to challenges, and demonstrate leadership under pressure. The assault on traditional masculinity is an assault on their very natures. Are boys disproportionately adventurous? Are they risk-takers? Do they feel a need to be strong? Do they often by default reject stereotypically ‘feminine’ characteristics? Yes, yes, yes and yes.’
Exactly.
I’ve got three sons and a daughter.
My siblings have eight girls and a boy between them.
So I’ve had plenty of experience watching all 13 of these children (their ages range from two to 25) grow up.
And here’s a cast-iron fact for you: girls are very different to boys.
They think differently, behave differently, dress differently, emote differently, and have markedly different characteristics.
Anyone who’s actually had kids knows this.
Yet somehow, it’s become offensive to say it out loud.
The incessant poisonous war on gender has culminated in the very word ‘man’ being decried as an abusive term, to the extent that Princeton University actually issued a ridiculous four-page memo instructing students to only use gender-neutral language.
Even the word ‘mankind’ had to be replaced by ‘humankind’.
I’m not joking: Princeton literally wanted to end mankind.
Look how things have changed in advertising!
Naughty Noughties: Gillette was not always so PC, as this UK magazine advert from the turn of the millennium proves
Staying power: A Madonna lookalike succumbs to the heady aroma of a man’s deodorant in this 1999 advert
Up with a lark: Even prim 1950s Britain wasn’t immune to a little passion in its razor blade ads
A close shave: In this 1930s U.S. ad, Gillette offers some marriage guidance
But it turns out that the American Psychological Association’s disgraceful report wasn’t even the worst attack on men this week.
No, that inglorious honour falls to razor company Gillette.
For 30 years, the company has used the tagline ‘The best a man can get’ to persuade people like me to part with large sums of money for their expensive shaving blades and foam.
Its commercials have unashamedly celebrated men and masculinity.
You watch them and feel good about being male.
Not just because they make you aspire to be a winner and successful achiever, but because they also encourage you to be a good father, son, husband and friend.
As a result of this consistently upbeat and positive marketing style, Gillette has grown into the most successful razor firm in history, generating annual sales of $6 billion a year.
I’ve bought Gillette products for three decades.
In fact, only yesterday I spent over $150 stocking up on its latest range of Gillette blades and foam.
I didn’t do so because their stuff is any better than their main competitors. I’ve tried them all and it’s not.
I did so because I like Gillette’s brand and what I thought it stood for, and the company’s never done anything to p*ss me off.
Then I saw its new commercial, a short film entitled ‘Believe’, which has a new tagline: ‘The best men can be’.
And I suddenly realised Gillette isn’t the brand I thought it was at all.
Gone is the celebration of men.
In its place is an ugly, vindictive two-minute homage to everything that’s bad about men and masculinity.
The film asks ‘Is this the best a man can get’ before flashing up images alluding to sexual harassment, sexist behaviour, the #MeToo movement, bullying and toxic masculinity.
Interspersed is a patronising series of educational visual entreaties about what men should in various unpleasant situations.
The subliminal message is clear: men, ALL men, are bad, shameful people who need to be directed in how to be better people.
It’s one of the most pathetic, virtue-signalling things I’ve ever endured watching.
Gillette said the purpose of the ad was to urge men to hold each other ‘accountable’ for bad behaviour.
Right, because the one thing that’s not happening right now in the world is men being held accountable for bad behaviour!
Jeez, it’s hard to think of a single minute of any day where men aren’t being summarily hung, drawn and quartered somewhere for alleged bad behaviour – their careers and lives destroyed.
Not in most cases through due process in a court of law, but often on the mere say-so of a Facebook post by an angry ex-girlfriend making allegations that may or may not be true.
I don’t seek to diminish the importance of the #MeToo campaign which has shone an important and long overdue light on completely unacceptable sexual harassment, bullying and abuse.
But why should all men be tarred with the same monstrous brush in the way this Gillette campaign sets out to do?
If I made a commercial aimed at female customers predicated on the generalised notion that women are liars, cheats, psychopaths and murderers (such women exist: I’ve interviewed many of them for my Killer Women crime series) and so every woman has to be taught how not to be those things, all hell would break loose and rightly so.
As always with this kind of furore, the joy of radical feminists on social media at such man-hating nonsense is only matched by the pitiful hypocrisy of certain men racing to virtue-signal their support for them and lambast any man like me who objects.
To sum up this hypocrisy, I received a tweet today from a man named Jeffrey Reddick.
‘Gillette isn’t saying men and masculinity are bad,’ he wrote. ‘Toxic masculinity is when we teach boys that real men don’t cry. Real men don’t show fear. Real men don’t lose. Real men take what they want. Real men solve problems with their fists. It is toxic and it damages men and women.’
Fine words from a man desperate for women to think he’s on THEIR side against supposedly horrible toxic masculine men like ME.
Well yes, until you realise this is the same Jeffrey Reddick who boasts on his Twitter profile that he makes ‘scary movies’.
Oh, he certainly does!
Jeffrey created the hugely successful Final Destination horror franchise, making himself a very rich man by shamelessly and gratuitously glorifying the slashing, stabbing, shooting, incineration, strangulation and dismemberment of myriad women.
I wonder if that’s what Jeffrey thinks ‘real men’ should be doing to cement their caring, sharing, sensitive, female-friendly credentials?
He’s not the biggest hypocrite here, though.
There’s only one thing Gillette really wants to achieve with this new campaign, and that’s to emasculate the very men it has spent 30 years persuading to be masculine.
As one male customer’s Twitter response, that quickly went viral, said: ‘Just used a Gillette razor blade to cut off my testicles. No more toxic masculinity for me. Thanks Gillette!’
He was not alone in his fury.
The YouTube version of the ad has been watched millions of times but attracted ten times as many ‘dislikes’ as ‘likes’, fast turning ‘Believe’ into one of the least popular commercials in US history.
Gillette – which believes so much in women’s rights that it has just two women on its board of nine directors – thought it was being clever by tapping into the radical feminist assault on men and masculinity.
In fact, it was being unutterably dumb.
By telling its male customers we’re basically all a bunch of uneducated, vile, sexist, harassing predators, they’ve jumped the shark in an unforgivable way.
I for one won’t use Gillette razors again until they withdraw this terrible commercial and formally apologise for their man-hating bullsh*t.
I suspect I am not alone.
Source: Read Full Article