Too Close for Comfort?

Social media is exploding with opposing opinions as the new advertising campaign “We believe: the best men can be” from Gillette goes viral, with both abuse and praise for the advert that promotes positive masculinity.

Celebrities like Piers Morgan are condemning the advert as “not PC” and a “pathetic global assault on masculinity” and declaring that he will never use Gillette products again. Another customer that Gillette has lost is James Wood, actor and Donald Trump supporter, who said that Gillette were “jumping on the ‘men are horrible’ campaign.” Others simply accuse Gillette of “attacking men” and promoting “feminist propaganda.”

However, there are just as many supportive comments, such as the one from Martin Luther King’s daughter, Bernice King, who wrote, “This commercial isn’t anti-male. It’s pro-humanity and demonstrates that character can step up to change conditions.” Others have remarked that the comments show that adverts such as this are much needed as they show that the damage done to men and women by toxic masculinity needs addressing and acknowledging.

The advert features clips of news reports from the #MeToo movement, sexism in films, mansplaining, and violence between boys and bullying. The voiceover says, “Bullying, the MeToo movement against sexual harassment, toxic masculinity, is this the best a man can get?” The advert was directed by Kim Gehrig, who was responsible for the This Girl Can campaign for Sport England and quotes actor Terry Crews, sexual assault survivor, who testified in front of Congress, “Men need to hold other men accountable,” and ends with clips of men standing up to other men against sexual harassment and stepping in to stop bullying and fighting.

Reading through the comments on Twitter and Facebook, it makes you wonder if people have actually watched the advert through to the end as they do not comment on what appears to me to be a tribute to the men who do stand up and say “no” to sexual harassment and bullying, who will put themselves in danger to break up a fight. “We believe in the best in men: To say the right thing, to act the right way. Some already are in ways big and small. But some is not enough. Because the boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow,” finishes the voiceover.

Obviously, Gillette must have anticipated that there would be a negative response but hey, as the saying goes, “there is no such thing as bad publicity.” But with millions of views on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, what company wouldn’t want the enormous reaction that this campaign has provoked. Are they just jumping on the bandwagon and profiting from the MeToo movement or do they really care? Only time will tell.

However, Gillette has also pledged to donate $1m to charities that are aimed at supporting men to become less violent and is already partnering with Building a Better Man project which works on reducing violent behaviour in men, The Boys and Girls Club of America, which works developing better social and communication skills in young men.

With the statistics proving that women are the majority of victims of domestic and sexual abuse and men the perpetrators, 1.3 million female victims and 600,000 male victims and seven women a month being killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales and 20 percent of women and 4 percent of men having experienced some sort of sexual abuse since the age of 16, it is obvious that these are major problems that need addressing. In addressing these problems, Gillette is not saying anything that isn’t known but seems to be ignored and swept under the carpet. Although not all these crimes are committed by men, the majority of them are and so this is a men’s problem more than it is a women’s problem and asking men to step up and condemn these actions seems fair and proportionate.

The other point that Gillette are making is that children learn by example and if they see men helping those being bullied and taking a stand against bullying, they will learn that it is wrong and hopefully learn this lesson and not continue this very damaging behaviour. Perhaps this will help the 45 percent of young people who experienced bullying before they were 18.

With women being shut down and forbidden to speak about their legitimate concerns about women only spaces having to be opened up to men who self-identify as women and men stopping women speaking about women being the majority of victims of domestic abuse, it is nice to see a global brand like Gillette braving the gauntlet of PC and men’s rights groups to highlight how much men’s behaviour needs to change. Thank you to Gillette for highlighting these issues and for celebrating those brave and decent men who stand up for what is right.