As soon as Gillette’s new ad about men was released, I heard from lots of media and business leaders wanting my take. I held off with public remarks until now because I have an ongoing partnership with a different business that does terrific, positive advertising about men — Dove Men+Care. It does not sell razors, and is therefore not a direct competitor with Gillette. But its parent company owns a razor brand.
Still, I have live interviews coming up, and I’m sure to be asked about the Gillette ad. So, after discussions with the right people, I’ve decided to share my thoughts. These represent me and no one else.
Gillette’s controversial new ad certainly seems well-intentioned, and it’s largely fine. But in its depictions of men overall, it does have a major flaw — one that gives critics legitimate cause for complaint. Unfortunately, most of the complaints that have gotten media attention are misguided and even offensive.
To be clear, the ad, titled “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be,” does not trash all men. Nor does it call on men to stop being men. It takes aim at bullying, sexual harassment, and sexism against women. There’s nothing controversial about a brand standing against such things. But the ad makes a big mistake by presenting men doing the right thing as exceptions.
At one point in the ad, two young boys fight as a row of men look on. These men show no concern and chant blankly in unison, “Boys will be boys will be boys will be boys…” They’re depicted as mindless, amoral automatons with no interest in taking action until, finally, one man stops the violence.
Have the people behind this ad ever even been to a picnic? If kids get violent with each other, parents — both dads and moms — move to stop it. The exceptions in a case like that are the parents who don’t care.
This same problem applies to the ad’s depiction of a boy being chased by a pack of bullies. One man looks around a crowded street and sees that no one is doing anything about it. So he steps up to intervene.
And when a child in the ad is cyberbullied, it is is notably a woman, not a man, who comforts him.
In the real world, where do men stand on fighting and bullying? The clearest recent statistics involve people’s concerns for their own children. Pew Research found that 42% of fathers and 47% of mothers worry that their child will be beat up, while 55% of fathers and 65% of mothers worry their child will be bullied. The figures are similar when parents are asked specifically about cyberbullying (56% of fathers and 62% of mothers share this concern).
The Gillette ad also references the scourge of workplace sexual harassment, something I’ve written and spoken about many times, including in an event with #MeToo founder Tarana Burke.
Most men (73%) agree a “zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment is essential to bringing about change in our society,” an NPR poll found. (That’s smaller than the 89% of women, and as far as I’m concerned it should be 100%.)
In fact, when it comes to issues around sexual harassment, polls have found that the bigger difference is partisan rather than along gender lines. Nearly equal numbers of men and women (around 30%), and overall half of Trump voters, agree with the offensive statement that “women who complain about sexual harassment cause more problems than they solve,” according to a chart from The Economist.
So while it’s great to celebrate men who do the right things, portraying them as the exceptions, rather than the rule, is a problem. It also runs a risk of having the opposite effect from the one intended. If boys and men who misbehave are told that they’re the norm, they may see it as a justification or excuse. This is why the men and women who called Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged attack on Christine Blasey Ford typical teenage boy behavior were engaging in a form of dangerous sexism.
The Gillette ad was almost surely aimed in part at stoking some controversy. Some analysts say it has paid off by bringing attention to the brand and appealing especially well to women. Still, to do the right thing in the future, marketers everywhere should take notice.
Don’t suggest that men have to be lone exceptions breaking away from a pack in order to behave well. Most men are good people, already doing their best. Together with women, these men can and should take action to stop the bad actors in their midst.
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Originally published on Josh Levs’ LinkedIn page.
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Posts by Josh Levs
No, Gillette Didn’t Declare War on Masculinity
Gillette and the Resistant Politics of Toxic Masculinity
#MeToo and Men Too
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