Since its inception in 2017, the #metoo movement has grown exponentially, shedding light on the pervasiveness of men’s toxic behaviour towards women. This has sparked a larger conversation about how boys and men interact with everyone, regardless of gender, under the impression that this behaviour is characteristic of masculinity. In response to this current political climate, P&G’s Gillette has fuelled several conversations with its new ad highlighting the prevalence and effects of toxic masculinity in the world. The ad, titled “The Best Men Can Be”, takes the viewer through several scenarios where men are faced with a choice- to be an aggravator, to be complicit or to do the right thing.
The ad opens with men staring at themselves introspectively, the atmosphere heavy with newscasters’ overlapping voices citing cases of bullying and sexual harassment. Interwoven with a cacophony of “boys will be boys”, the commercial depicts the various aspects of toxic masculinity that people experience daily. It is a snapshot of situations we’re all too familiar with: a boy being chased by group of bullies, a woman being harassed to serve as a punchline or a female colleague being undermined in the workplace. Each scenario comes to a conclusion with a man leading by example and preventing someone’s toxic mentality from manifesting itself into a harmful act. These conclusions, witnessed by young, impressionable eyes, lead back to one solution succinctly stated by Terry Crews, “men need to hold other men accountable”.
The ad at its core is a departure from Gillette’s usual claim that using their products will attract women to their consumers like flies to honey. Their “woke” approach to the current political climate has triggered a large number of their consumer base to boycott their products in a gross reiteration of the outrage over Nike’s support of Colin Kaepernick. The consumers felt targeted and attacked, bristling over the stereotypes portrayed in the ad. Their anger was also due to the fact that a razor company was presuming to tell them how to behave. Many believe that the issues portrayed in the ad are few and far between, blown out of proportion for no reason. Some even went as far as to deny that it takes place, or that the ramifications are negligible. As such, they did not believe that the negative behaviours shown in the ad applied to them at all. This defensive reaction distracts from the intended message, that change starts from within and that every individual is a part of the solution. It’s no longer enough to just not participate in normalised acts of toxic masculinity, one must actively work to dismantle the belief system fuelling this behaviour.
Advertisements are often a reflection of society and this one seems to indicate that we are starting to steadily move towards a better, more intersectional future. The fact that Gillette has stood by the ad in the face of this backlash has set a conscientious benchmark for other organisations. They had anticipated this clash of views, but a discussion has been long overdue. Many would agree that a conversation about the ordeals a large part of the population goes through, and the source of it, would be the first step towards addressing the issue. All there is left to do is wait and watch if they actually build on the foundation they’ve laid down, or if it was just another company giving their two cents to the pseudo-feminist movement in a bid to be viewed in a favourable light.
-Janhavi Mishra || PGP MR
janhavi.mishra@northpointindia.com