 "Gillette's latest ad campaign is a relevant take on toxic masculinity, #metoo and 'boys will be boys'")
An advertisement by the razor-brand Gillette has gone viral, and for all the right reasons.
The ad campaign — that deconstructs Gillette’s own tagline, ’the best a man can get’ — attempts to spread a reformative message among men in the wake of multiple sexual harassment allegations that have surfaced over the last few years across countries and industries.
Gillette, popular for its tag line ’the best a man can get’, suggests that it is now time to stop condoning problematic behaviour with the much-used catchphrase, ‘boys will be boys.’ The campaign was launched on 13 January, 2019
“Is this the best a man can get? Is it? We can’t hide from it. It has been going on far too long. We can’t laugh it off, making the same old excuses.”
The campaign comes after many survivors have spoken up on social media against workplace harassment and sexual assault (among several other issues), powering the #MeToo movement, which compelled hundreds to start a conversation about how women are treated by the opposite sex.
Titled We Believe, the advertisement points out that it is time to stop making excuses for inappropriate actions and adds, ‘We believe in the best in men, to say the right thing, to act the right way.’
In light of this message, it depicts a father breaking a fist fight between two young boys and a man stopping another from catcalling a woman on the streets. Denoting that it is time to create a future generation that is more aware, the ad concludes young boys must emulate this change ‘because the boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow.’
However, according to a BBC report, many negative comments have also poured in against the campaign with viewers stating that they will not buy Gillette’s products again and that the ad was nothing short of ‘feminist propaganda.’ There have also been calls for the brand, owned by Procter & Gamble to post an apology video.
Piers Morgan of Good Morning Britain also took to Twitter to express his disdain at the video terming it as one that fuels ’the current pathetic global assault on masculinity.’
“Let boys be damn boys,” he tweeted.
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.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 14, 2019
Let boys be damn boys.
Let men be damn men. https://t.co/Hm66OD5lA4
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