Gillette's 'We Believe' ad receives mixed feedback

The Procter & Gamble company has received much backlash on social media, following its tweet on Monday, 14 January:

“Boys will be boys”? Isn’t it time we stopped excusing bad behavior? Re-think and take action by joining us at https://t.co/giHuGDEvlT. #TheBestMenCanBe pic.twitter.com/hhBL1XjFVo

— Gillette (@Gillette) January 14, 2019

I've used @Gillette razors my entire adult life but this absurd virtue-signalling PC guff may drive me away to a company less eager to fuel the current pathetic global assault on masculinity.

Let boys be damn boys.
Let men be damn men. https://t.co/Hm66OD5lA4
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 14, 2019

the only ones lauding the Gillette ad work in media/advertising. everyone else sees it for what it is: a smarmy, condescending virtue signal aimed at the hardworking decent men they been price-gouging for years.

Look @gillette, I know your heart is in the right place.

But there's a line.

And that line is where my razor blades start issuing me moral instruction.https://t.co/W5QbNIIKSS
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) January 14, 2019

.@Gillette's new campaign thoughtfully and critically examines what "The Best a Man Can Get," the brand's iconic tagline, means today. A must watch. https://t.co/5WKmfferhl

— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) January 15, 2019

Once again, I'm very much okay with this shift in cultural standards.

"Be a good human" is getting ever-more commercially viable. I'm down with a future where it's cool to be protective and proactive at making the world better. https://t.co/iYsGxBQ9QF
— Mika McKinnon (@mikamckinnon) January 14, 2019

The comments under the @Gillette toxic masculinity ad is a living document of how desperately society needs things like the Gillette toxic masculinity ad.

Seriously: if your masculinity is THAT threatened by an ad that says we should be nicer then you're doing masculinity wrong.
— Andrew P Street (@AndrewPStreet) January 15, 2019

Exploitative? Maybe. Brave and timely? Absolutely. Also, I cried. Well done, @Gillette. #foroursons https://t.co/4hYNcgsxoX

Pankaj Bhalla, Gillette’s brand director for North America, said in a statement that the company felt “compelled” to address “an important conversation”.

We are taking a realistic look at what’s happening today, and aiming to inspire change by acknowledging that the old saying ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ is not an excuse. We want to hold ourselves to a higher standard, and hope all the men we serve will come along on that journey to find our ‘best’ together.

“We knew that joining the dialogue on ‘modern manhood’ would mean changing how we think about and portray men at every turn.”

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Read more:

• Gillette #MeToo ad on 'toxic masculinity' cuts deep with men's rights activists: The Guardian
• Gillette's new ad isn't about shaving. It's about men in the age of #metoo: CNN Business
• Gillette released an ad asking men to ‘act the right way.’ Then came the backlash.: Boston.com