• InstaHunk Danny 'Tree Man' Jones acknowledges the challenges of trying to post 'engaging' content even when it's freezing outside.
• Vanity Fairreports that Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, "hates" his job and expects the report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller to be "horrific" for Trump.
• New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has announced she will run for president in 2020. Gillibrand has been an LGBTQ ally for years fighting for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," opposing Trump's transgender military ban, and pushing for federal LGBTQ protections.
Tonight I announced that I’m preparing to run for president, because I believe we’re all called to make a difference. I believe in right vs. wrong – that wrong wins when we do nothing. Now is our time to raise our voices and get off the sidelines. Join me: https://t.co/I1vp93u0wh
• On the flip side, 2020 presidential hopeful Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii began her candidacy with an apology tour saying she’s really, really sorry for her long history of homophobia. #ByeFelicia
• Chuck Holton, NRA-TV host, told viewers, "Men were meant to be dangerous" in response to the new Gillette ad I reported on yesterday that calls on men to 'step up' as role models for young males.
• Sweet video from INTO - "Old Gays Look Back At Their Younger Selves."
"You look like a real jock."
"Do I? I was pretty queer."
After Gillette unveiled its latest ad meant to inspire men to step up as better role models for young boys regarding how to treat women and other men, some far-right loons decided being told to “be the best a man can be” was too tall an order.
It’s not unusual for Proctor & Gamble, Gillette’s parent company to advocate on social issues.
Last year, P&G won an Emmy Award for “The Talk,” an ad that featured African-American parents discussing racism with their children.
And other companies have found success wading into social issues.
Last year, Nike put former NLF quarterback Colin Kaepernick front and center for the 30th anniversary of their “Just Do It” campaign. The ad spot was targeted at Nike’s prime demographic - younger customers who tend to believe in social justice.
The gamble paid off. While there were some early grumbles on social media, Nike’s CEO, Mark Parker, shared with analysts in September, “We’ve seen record engagement with the brand as part of the campaign.”
Even Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, Bernice King, gave the new Gillette ad a thumbs-up.
“This commercial isn’t anti-male,” tweeted the civil rights advocate. “It’s pro-humanity. And it demonstrates that character can step up to change conditions.”
However, some men, who apparently don’t like to be told to stop assaulting women or bullying gay men, are now proposing a boycott of the men’s product company.
And then there’s self-important UK TV personality Piers Morgan, who has his own history of homophobic and transphobic snark.
Morgan claims he spends “$1000s” on Gillette products each year, and his takeaway from the ad was that Gillette “wants every man to take one of their razors & cut off his testicles.” What the hell…?
I spend $1000s a year on @Gillette products. They need me, just as they need all their male customers they just threw under the PC bus. https://t.co/QryHSh0YEs
It seems to me that if you are a man who treats women and other men with respect, there’s really nothing to get upset about, is there?
In any case, lots of level-headed, clear-minded folks have clapped back at the fragile snowflakes.
Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy had a perfectly direct response to the triggered trolls, tweeting, “To anyone who was offended by the Gillette ad that simply implored me not to sexually assault or harass women: f*ck you!”
To anyone who was offended by the @Gillette ad that simply implored men not to sexually assault or harass women: fuck you!
I don't understand where all the hate for the #GilletteAd is coming from? It's just saying don't be an asshole and treat EVERYONE with respect. Great job @Gillette
That Gillette ad doesn’t wage war on men, it simply challenges men not to bully, catcall, grope or assault anybody. How is that controversial? Interesting to see conservatives, who weaponized Al Franken and Harvey Weinstein for political purposes, feign outrage over this message.
I like how a small minority of people are getting mad at the Gillette ad and now want boycott them. I watched the ad and went about my day like most people. I don't care what razor you shave them nutz with fam. If you hate the ad they are talking about you.#gilletteboycottpic.twitter.com/243N2IvPmH
Ok I heard this ad was shit, but it's really not that bad. It's literally just an ad telling scummy shit bags to stop being scummy shit bags, nothing overly feminist, not any real leftist propaganda
Gillette has debuted a new campaign, “The Best Men Can Be,” with a minute and a half video that’s getting props and criticism.
The new messaging is a riff on “The Best a Man Can Get” tagline which debuted 30 years ago in 1989 during Super Bowl XXIII.
The new 90 second spot, titled “We Believe,” asks the viewer, “Is this the best a man can get?” as we hear terms like “bullying,” “MeToo movement,” and “masculinity” in the background.
The text of the voiceover reads:
“Is this the best a man can get? Is it? We can’t hide from it. It’s been going on far too long. We can’t laugh it off making the same old excuses. But something finally changed and there will be no going back. Because we, we believe in the best in men. To say the right thing, to act the right way. Some already are - in ways big and small. Some is not enough because the boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow.”
Visually, we see a group of boys chasing other boys while slurs of “loser,” “sissy,” and “freak” are printed across the screen; fathers at a backyard cookout watching boys fight while saying, “Boys will be boys;” sitcom and movie situations where adult men pretend to grope women.
“Bullying. Harassment. Is this the best a man can get?,” reads the video description. “It's only by challenging ourselves to do more, that we can get closer to our best. To say the right thing, to act the right way.”
There’s also a link to a new brand site, TheBestMenCanBe.org, which offers more insight into the new company positions on healthy masculinity.
“As a company that encourages men to be their best, we have a responsibility to make sure we are promoting positive, attainable, inclusive and healthy versions of what it means to be a man,” says Gillette at the new site.
In addition, Gillette pledges to donate $1 million per year for the next three years to non-profit organizations that set out to “inspire, educate and help men of all ages achieve their personal ‘best’ and become role models for the next generation.”
Sounds like a worthy message, yes?
But if you click over to the YouTube page where the video lives, the comments are over-the-top negative.
At this writing, the clip has garnered 14K ‘thumbs down’ votes versus less than 2K ‘thumbs up’ votes.
Joe Jervis at JoeMyGod notes that the far-right, conservative website InfoWars sent their flying monkeys to the video page to troll.
"I hope this anti-male propaganda film costed you a lot and that the outcome will cost you a lot more." "Let's try cultural castration as our marketing strategy." "Two kids play-fighting on the grass, which is probably one of the most fun things to do as a kid with your friends and they break it up. It just shows how detached these pig feminist demagogues are." "Gillette getting Cucked" "Never shaving with Gillette again. Take your propoganda elsewhere." "My masculinity isn't toxic, your femininity is."
AdAge notes that Gillette’s new messaging joins other men’s personal care products, like Just For Men and Unilever’s Axe, that now aim for “an evolved outlook on masculinity.”
What do you think, readers? Is the new ad spot aspirational? Or insulting to men?
Are men stuck in a 'catch 22' in trying to be their best while attempting to fit into an ever-evolving definition of 'masculinity?"
