Gillette: the best an ad can be?

“Do brands have beliefs?” That is the question we are forced to ask by Gillette’s new advert, said Kaitlyn Tiffany on Vox. Created by a New York-based agency, the glossy 108-second commercial is entitled We Believe, and it seems the razor brand chiefly believes that in the Me Too era, its old slogan – “The Best a Man Can Get” – is ripe for an update. Previously, Gillette ads featured square-jawed hunks shaving in front of a mirror, before kissing beautiful women and triumphing on sports fields. The new ad, by contrast, shows men groping women; demeaning them at work; and standing at barbecues, intoning “boys will be boys” as their sons brawl. “Is this the best a man can get?” asks the voice-over. No! The advert pivots. We see a man telling his pal that it’s “not cool” to catcall a woman; men intervening to settle disputes; and a father breaking up a fight as his son looks on. This is “the best a man can be”.

If all publicity is good publicity, this ad is a winner, said Janet Street-porter in The Independent. Viewed millions of times online, it has triggered a frenzied debate about whether it’s timely or patronising, though I mainly find it “corny”. Are men really so “oafish” they need Procter & Gamble to show them examples of good and bad behaviour? And does the corporation really care about “toxic masculinity” – or is this just the latest example of a brand selling a “philosophy” that has nothing to do with its products, to imprint itself in the minds of consumers? Either way, it’s wrong-headed, said Avi Dan in Forbes. Sure, there are men who behave badly – but the ad implies that such boorish behaviour is the norm. You don’t get people to listen by smearing an entire gender; and you don’t win customers by telling them they’re brutes. Imagine the outcry if ethnic minorities or women were so crudely stereotyped. Socially conscious, “purpose-driven” marketing can work, but this self-serving campaign fails.

Sure, it’s cynical, said Jack Sunnucks on i-d – but I’m puzzled about why an ad for a razor with a fairly innocuous message (“don’t be awful”) should have triggered such an explosion of anger. If anyone doubts that there is such a thing as “toxic masculinity”, they should check out the furious comments online. I don’t see it as toxic so much as fearful, said George Monbiot in The Guardian. “If you are at ease with yourself”, you’re not disturbed by having your norms challenged. “If you are strong, you don’t feel threatened by strong women.” What’s interesting about the Gillette ad is not its message, but the fragility it has helped reveal.