Advertising Ethics

The Best a Man Can Get?

In the world we live in, men are generally seen with "Fragile Egos" and "Leaders of the Household". Generally speaking, that has been historically accurate. Men have been the providers while women usually stay at home and take care of children. However, in the last 70 years, give or take, women have removed that stereotype and taken many jobs that were considered masculine. Lately, particularly in the Trump era, a new phrase has risen up among millennials known as Toxic Masculinity, or Hegemonic masculinity. This is defined as "a practice that legitimizes powerful men's dominant position in society and justifies the subordination of the common male population and women, and other marginalized ways of being a man," (Hegemonic Masculinity Page). 

Only a few weeks before Super Bowl LIII, Gillette released an ad for a new razor. However, after seeing the ad, many white men were upset with it, claiming that it puts the negative stereotype of toxic masculinity on white men. The ad shows boys being bullied by other boys, a man inappropriately touching a woman's shoulder during work, and suburban dads standing shoulder to shoulder with grills, stating the quote that everyone hates: "Boys will be boys," with a smile on their face. 

The ad has caused an incredible amount of controversy among social media, particularly Twitter. Most of the comments are pointing out the sexism and racism, stating there's no such thing as toxic masculinity and that the ad is targeting white men and making them look bad. 

GIllette, obviously, has denied any allegations towards any sort of targeting or providing any idea of a stereotype. This hasn't stopped any social media from causing an infinite storm of negative comments about it regardless. The biggest issue with all this being that it is nearly impossible for a company who has released an advertisement filled with issues that many people struggle with. The ad was designed to only advertise their products to the public, not attempting to offend any person in any way. 

Many call these accusations ridiculous. However, Gillette should have known better than to advertise a product with such controversial topics in this day and age, especially with all the "snowflakes" that have suddenly sprouted up in the last ten years. Even so, this ad is much more than a simple "people need to toughen up" kind of issue.

Surprisingly, this is not even the first commercial to advertise a product with questionable ethics in the advertisement. According to Vox, "This is not the first time a Procter & Gamble brand has attempted to sell personal hygiene items by situating them in dubious feminist narratives. It previously did so with the 2014 “Like a Girl” campaign, which promoted Always tampons and invited teenagers to “run like a girl” in order to demonstrate internalized misogyny (Vox Article). The company’s deodorant brand Secret also has a running “Stress Test” campaign, which shows women getting ready to confront sexism in business meetings." Last summer, Nike's attempt to launch its thirtieth anniversary "Just Do It" featuring Colin Kaepernick. The campaign was immedietely flamed by social media users after the fiasco involving the quarterback refusing to stand for the National Anthem before a football game.

Overall, with the inclusion of the controversial moments in their ad, Gillette has made a terrible mistake with their latest ad. Despite their attempts to save their reputation and the fact that they have not technically done anything wrong, due to the rise of such an immature and soft generation that has been raised, Gillette will never have the chance to be free of this mistake that, quite possibly, has ruined the company's sales.