Eduardo Neret
\nFlorida Campus Reform Correspondent<\/p>\n
A Villanova University marketing professor blasted Gillette for the razor company’s “The Best Men Can Be” ad, which referenced “toxic masculinity.”<\/p>\n
The professor,\u00a0Charles Taylor<\/a>, criticized Gillette\u2019s new \u201cThe Best Men Can Be\u201d ad campaign, in an op-ed for\u00a0Forbes<\/em><\/a>. A spin-off of the company\u2019s old \u201cThe Best a Man Can Get\u201d campaign, “The Best Men Can Be” was launched with a now-viral commercial that highlights behaviors in boys and men such as bullying, sexual harassment, and sexism.<\/p>\n In the ad, Gillette calls out \u201ctoxic masculinity” and attributes this concept to men as a whole with a YouTube description reading “bullying. Harassment. Is this the best a man can get?”<\/p>\n \u201cThe use of the term ‘toxic masculinity’ in the ad was a flat-out mistake,\u201d Taylor noted in his op-ed. \u201cWhile only mentioned quickly and briefly, the use of this term, which many men associate with a one-sided critique and stereotype of an entire gender [sic].\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor went on to add that corporations should never alienate a substantial portion of their consumer base, which Gillette\u2019s campaign \u201cunnecessarily\u201d did. Taylor also warned that without modification or apology, Gillette\u2019s campaign would go down in history as an \u201call-time marketing blunder.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe shame of all of this is that Gillette surely could have devised a campaign focusing on positive encouragement of good behaviors without making sweeping generalizations about men and what it is to be masculine,” Taylor continued. At the time of publication of this article, the ad had over ten million views on Gillette\u2019s official YouTube page and nearly three times as many \u201cthumbs down\u201d as \u201cthumbs up.”<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe use of the term ‘toxic masculinity’ in the ad was a flat out mistake”<\/h3>\n
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