If you haven’t seen it already, a recent Gillette ad has stirred up a whole lot of controversy:
“Boys will be boys”? Isn’t it time we stopped excusing bad behavior? Re-think and take action by joining us at https://t.co/giHuGDEvlT. #TheBestMenCanBe pic.twitter.com/hhBL1XjFVo
— Gillette (@Gillette) January 14, 2019
The commercial, which can also be seen on YouTube, has so far racked up over 12 million views.
The like-to-dislike ratio is a sign that many aren’t happy with the direction the popular men’s razor brand is heading (300K+ likes & 700K+ dislikes).
Some are even claiming the likes are being artificially inflated and the dislikes/comments removed:
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Now, in a revealing interview with AP (archive link), Pankaj Bhalla, Gillette’s North America brand director, said “controversy was not the intended goal of the ad” but there is a larger ongoing campaign to redefine the brand’s longtime tagline “The Best a Man Can Get.”
“Our ultimate aim is to groom the next generation of men, and if any of this helps even in a little way we’ll consider that a success,” Bhalla proclaimed.
When asked if he is worried about possible loss of sales or even a boycott, Bhalla said he wouldn’t want that to happen, but “would not discourage conversation or discussion because of that.”
Video and Image Credits: YouTube, Twitter, Gillette