Gillette - An Important Message Lost

The Rant

We all know this. We live in strange times. The number of times I hear influential people quote the exact same thing, it worries me that they really don’t realize how they just sound like Mark Antony in Julius Caesar referring to Brutus as “a noble man”. The past 10 – 15 years have definitely been a growing, trying and transitional phase for our species. From issues such as climate change, poverty, education, tyrannical regimes to issues closer home – mental health, racism, police brutality, sexual assaults, rising suicide rate, issues with women and men rights, gender identity concerns, the list is endless. It really is, and it’s scary, because one has to wonder, how did we even get here?

For a larger portion of the world, survival, food and shelter is still one of the largest issues they concern themselves with. Again, this is not to diminish the volume and the impact of the issues we face now, but we do have to realize that while some of us here are boycotting products because, they're telling us how to behave, somewhere across the ocean is a parent trying to make sure that they can scrounge up atleast one meal for the day.

The Market

There are concerns and issues that we are plagued with, and these need to be highlighted, addressed and dealt with. We have seen a considerable rise in brands taking to social activism. In 2017, Edelman found that nearly 64% of buyers now are belief driven buyers, IE, they will buy, switch, boycott brands based on the stand the brands take. Consumers realize that brands need to wield their size and reach to make a difference. A recent example is Nike’s ad with Colin Kaepernick. The ad saw a huge backlash, but few days later, we saw an almost 31% spike in Nike sales.

Now let’s take something even more recent. Let’s take the Gillette ad. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look.

An ad highlighting the recent #metoo movement centers itself around toxic masculinity and subsequently flipping its longest used tagline, “The best a man can get” to, “The best a man can be”. No surprise, the ad was received with a storm of backlash on social media. Men and women alike, took to Social Media talking about how a shaving brand shouldn’t be telling them how to behave. Jordan Perterson, said, “I’d rather have my corporations be greedy than virtuous.” Of course, he’s a smart man and did clarify that he doesn’t think all corporations are greedy. Yes, there has been a positive response, but it’s been drowned with #boycottgillette and #getwokegobroke and a lot of conversation about how Gillette is now riding the wave, and just advocating “emasculation of men”. In all fairness, I think with reactions like that, they’re just really helping Gillette makes it point.

The Response

Gillette responded to the backlash stating what they’ve done is take a stand, and if the ad helps people pause, reflect and creates a discussion, they consider their campaign a success. They didn’t issue an apology or take down the videos, but went on record maintaining their stand in hope that it generates a debate.

The Opinion (not the rant)

Personally, I agree with the conversation Gillette wished to propagate. There are countless studies and statistics that prove men are struggling right now. Men are 3.5 times more likely than women to commit suicide. 1 in 5 men are more prone to alcohol dependence and addiction. Couple all of this, with societal constructs, bullying, homophobia, impotence and declining male fertility rates, things are difficult. So while the issue is incredibly important, Gillette addressed it with a poorly written ad. It capitalized on stereotypes in a setting where a large portion of men already consider themselves victims. The ad was about change, responsibility and accountability for our actions and actions of other people, but the ad was so poorly executed, it was almost preachy and all that one could honestly take back from it was, “why is my razor company telling me about how to be a man”.

Now, Gillette has a history of making socially relevant ads. Pushing ideas like, “The best doesn’t get easy” and “handle with care”, embodying compassion and the need to better yourselves. They genuinely are great ads that say something meaningful. This entire situation could have been avoided with simply a better ad. I’m glad Gillette maintained their stand, but I believe it was necessary to acknowledge that it was a poorly written advertisement. That said, I guess we will wait to see the impact it has on their sales.

Now, when any such backlash or controversy occurs, it is the responsibility of the organization to integrate all functional units to ensure that moving forward, there is a consistent stand in terms of strategy, communication and advertising the company takes. Something that Gillette conveniently ignored was the talk about the Pink Tax that came up during the entire backlash. When a brand takes a social stand which are interconnected, its inability to address other valid concerns dilutes the original message and displays a certain level of hypocrisy.

Any large organization, be it government, a corporation, a non-profit, or a collective of individuals, does not have a responsibility to the world. It really doesn’t. They’re here to do what they do – make money, provide services, make a profit and move on. I mean, imagine if we all lived our lives like that, and well most of us do. Not the best picture, really. Probably how we got here in the first place. We are fortunate that there are people around us who work to make our world better, who take a stand and who are willing to sacrifice just more than their time towards a better future. So when brands like Gillette, or Nike, Airbnb or even IKEA take a stand, be it through their ads or their products, or their manpower or work culture, take time to appreciate it. They don’t have to, but they do. And yes, one can go into a spiral with, “they’re doing it because that’s what the customers want”, and yes, that is true. But it's probably time to see the bigger picture.