#MeToo In A Man’s World
Gillette’s latest advert ‘We Believe: The Best A Man Can Be’ discards the traditional ‘use this to attract women’ tactic often seen in-category, preferring to delve into unhealthy male behaviours — from boyhood fighting to harassment in manhood. At its crescendo, the piece asks the target viewer to question their role across relationships and help shape the next generation of men.
The backlash has been considerable, not least from men themselves, who have promised to boycott products — but should the brand care? This Forbes article references the “comments on [#Gillette’s] own YouTube channel running negative by an astonishing ten to one margin”. So what? Try and find a social media post that does not (especially if it is published by a woman). If responses to largely anonymous comments were the yardstick for creativity, we would live in a very bland world.
With regards to losing sales, there are two areas of note. Firstly, whilst a viewer could claim that this is a cynical ploy to jump on the #MeToo movement in order to make profits, it is quite another to say that the content itself is offensive. It is hard to believe that the majority of the audience have not seen real-life examples of those depicted in the advert. To that end, the rage only serves to justify the message of necessary introspection. Secondly, Nike were widely — and justifiably — lauded last year for risking alienating customers with their Colin Kaepernick campaign: does Gillette not deserve similar recognition?
Interestingly, Gillette is not alone: in 2017 Lynx, a brand that is, at times, myopically masculine in its motives, urged men to think differently about their innermost concerns as part of their ‘Is It Ok For Guys…’ campaign. In it, they highlighted real life internal thoughts that (young) men have via the medium of search terms — such as ‘is it ok for guys to be skinny’ or ‘…to be sensitive’ — to both demystify and reduce the sense of isolation. More recently, the men’s outfitter Bonobos released ‘#EvolvetheDefinition’, a spot in which men read aloud the dictionary definition of ‘Masculine’ and then responded with their own perceptions. Yet, for every one of these potentially zeitgeist campaigns there are countless more that reaffirm the notion of manliness through the ownership of trucks, gambling, or getting the girl.
Indeed, one potential weakness of this video is the single lens with which men are portrayed here, namely seemingly heterosexual. It would be remarkable if Gillette doubled-down on this theme and followed-up with a segment that included those within the LGBTQ community — not least because they are customers too! — but because they make-up the myriad faces of men.
Alongside the apparent well-meaning intentions, Gillette have pledged $1m annually for the next three years to US non-profits who share its values. Yet there will be detractors. Amongst them are those who question Gillette’s right to discuss this topic, given the almost implausible view of men that they have peddled for many years. Some will see this is a desperate ploy to gain attention amidst market-share decline. Others still will question the creative execution.
Back in 2004 ‘The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty’ faced similar questions to those Gillette is being asked today. However, their promise could claim to have influenced thinking about how women are perceived — and view themselves — from #AerieReal’s body positivity messaging to Always’ ‘#LikeAGirl’, which reflected the stark fact that emojis are both stereotypical and disempowering.
Maybe it is too much to speculate that ‘We Believe: The Best A Man Can Be’ achieves the same level of success, or that it provokes other brands into questioning their own narrative and its impact on customers. Either way, there is something brave about this advert — from a brand that has typically relied on the latest mass-appeal, fresh-faced sportsmen — and its confrontation of an issue that Gillette could have steered well clear of.
