The ad was posted by Gillette on YouTube on January 13th, 2019. If you haven't seen the short video, you can watch it here. The ad depicted imagery of younger boys, as well as adults who stood up to toxic masculinity standards and disrespectful behaviors to be "the best a man could be." One specific scene in the short video showed two young boys beating each other up, and the fathers use the phrase "boys will be boys" to justify their aggressive behaviors. There were many instances in the video where disrespectful behavior, especially towards women, was present but was then corrected to be better as a man.
This ad caused a lot of controversy on social media. I saw that on Twitter, men felt they were being attacked, I even saw one response to the video that was saying how hard it was to be a man in the age of the #MeToo movement. These comments were confusing to me because I believed Gillette's ad was made in good taste with a bigger message behind it. People who are upset with this ad don't understand that it was not made to be an attack, but it was encouraging men to think about and be accountable for their actions and behaviors. The #MeToo movement contributes to the effort of holding men responsible for their actions when it comes to sexual assault and sexual violence. It is time that we talk about these issues openly.
Although there were critics of the video, there were a lot of positive comments about the video too. Women and men alike agreed that the ad was encouraging young men to take responsibility for their actions and have respect for women and themselves to be better people. They believed that it wasn't an attack but a reminder to men that respect goes a long way in all aspects of life. I don't think Gillette was talking down to men since they are a men's brand, but I think their message was important in that it was advertising with the purpose of promoting respect. Like the Nike ad, Gillette was hoping to spark controversy in a way that would be beneficial to society. Hopefully, Gillette's call for action will resonate with people all over for us to have a more respectful environment for both men and women.
