Why men’s rights activists are boycotting Gillette
Piers Morgan criticises razor brand’s #MeToo advert as ‘virtue-signalling PC guff’
Razor brand Gillette has triggered global debate with a new advert that addresses issues including sexual harassment and bullying.
The ad was uploaded to YouTube on Monday under the title “We Believe” and features clips of news reports on the Me Too movement, alongside snippets showing sexism in films and violence between boys.
The voiceover says: “We can’t hide from it. It has been going on far too long. We can’t laugh it off, making the same old excuses.” In direct reference to the Me Too movement, the ad continues: “Something has finally changed.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
CNN says that viewers then see “scenes of men breaking up fights, standing up for people, and being attentive fathers”, before the narrator closes with the line, “Bullying, the Me Too movement against sexual harassment, toxic masculinity, is this the best a man can get?” - a play on the brand’s traditional slogan.
The advert has prompted a furious backlash from men’s rights activists and right-wing commentators, with many accusing the brand of “virtue-signalling”, a term that refers to moral posturing.
Far-right magazine The New American attacked Gillette’s message, saying it “reflects many false suppositions”. The mag adds: “Men are the wilder sex, which accounts for their dangerousness – but also their dynamism.”
Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan has also been critical, tweeting: “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.”
Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp challenged Morgan, saying the video “focuses on changing the behaviour of men who have engaged in sexual assault, harassment, discrimination and violence”.
Morgan responded by claiming that “this pathetic Gillette ad is a direct consequence of radical feminists like you driving a war against masculinity”.
The Guardian notes that some critics “took issue with the advertisement because it was directed by a woman” - Kim Gehrig, who was behind the 2015 “This Girl Can” campaign for Sport England, as well as Viva La Vulva, an ad for Swedish feminine hygiene brand Libresse.
Pankaj Bhalla, Gillette’s North America brand director, told CNN: “We expected debate. Actually a discussion is necessary. If we don’t discuss and don’t talk about it, I don’t think real change will happen.
“The ad is not about toxic masculinity. It is about men taking more action every day to set the best example for the next generation. This was intended to simply say that the enemy for all of us is inaction.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - April 20, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - papal ideas, high-powered debates, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 sleeper hit cartoons about Trump's struggles to stay awake in court
Cartoons Artists take on courtroom tranquility, war on wokeness, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The true story of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
In depth The writer's fall from grace with his high-flying socialite friends in 1960s Manhattan is captured in a new Disney+ series
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
The Master and Margarita: the new adaptation causing consternation at the Kremlin
Why Everyone's Talking About Pro-Putin groups have called for the film's director to be charged as a terrorist
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
The new 'boom' in Latin American fiction
Why everyone's talking about Almost a quarter of International Booker Prize longlist comes from South America, a region in turmoil
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Poonam Pandey: the Indian model who faked her own death
Why Everyone's Talking About The Bollywood star has a reputation for outlandish stunts
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Unsung heroes of the year 2023
Under the radar The Week salutes those whose remarkable achievements deserve greater recognition
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Miss Universe 2023: win for inclusion or nothing to celebrate?
Talking Point Beauty pageant included mothers, plus-sized models and trans women – but fails to distract from global conflict
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Bad Bunny joins in criticism of AI music
Speed Read Concern growing in music industry over generative learning, unauthorised impersonations and copyright issues
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
A reckoning over looted art
The Explainer Thousands of artifacts in U.S. and European collections were stolen from their countries of origin. Should they be sent back?
By The Week Staff Published
-
Fernando Botero obituary: artist of 'whimsical rotundity'
Obituary Colombian painter and sculptor was known for his 'exuberant style'
By The Week Staff Published