The new Gillette ad

There are very long threads on this ad on Badger and Blade and ATG. Not sure we need another, but who knows? Plenty to say about it. Personally I think it's completely ridiculous, nothing to do with razors and full of sleazy moralising to the masses, who generally don't like being treated like they can't think for themselves. On B&B it's offended quite a lot of people to the point they don't want to buy any more Gillette products.
 
Just watched it. My opinion is that it's somewhat bizarre, too long, and has nothing to do with razors or shaving products. I didn't find it offensive but as soon as you mention ‘sexual harassment' of course it's going to wind people up. What have those two words got to do with shaving though?

With the money Gillette make, I'm sure they won't lose sleep over a few thousand people boycotting their products anyway. Also, if any DE shavers boycott them, don't they make most blades anyway, even ones that aren't labelled as Gillette?

I'm not getting on my high horse about it, I just think it was rather pointless of them to make an ad like this
 
I'm not a fan - I agree with the message and sentiment. However, in my view Gillette are trying to look hollier than thou, which for me is the root of my issue with the advert.

Gillette make a mint by selling multi-blade carts and razors; they have created a commercial model which makes shaving for many very expensive, arguably more expensive that it should be. DE shaving for many is cheaper, gives better shaves and kinder on the skin and is possibly more environmentally friendly. Yet Gillette have chosen to shift DE shaving into the margins; I often wish I started out shaving with DEs and not carts - however, given how the supermarket and chemist shelves were stacked, that was not an option.

My take on the advert is 'lead by example and improve the world'. Gillette and many others in the corporate world should reflect on their on behaviours and their impact on society.

I am not against people making money, for me its about the honesty and integrity of the offering. How much do Gillete charge for Venus blades?
 
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Sticking my cynical business hat on...

Clearly Gillette are under pressure. Their market share is being eroded away by all the subscription services and startups that are using less traditional (and cheaper) forms of advertising. Plus they're getting plenty of push-back on prices with consumers saying 'enough.' The fashion for facial hair has also taken a chunk out of them.

It's not like they can add any new features, we passed peak tech in the razor market a long time back -- there's no room for more blades and selling the new hotness is getting harder, especially as the price seems to increase each time.

So they're trying to pivot and sell you on a vision of being the best man you can be -- or, more specifically, they're selling to their primary consumers, the women who actually go to the supermarket. Old Spice used a similar tactic, only more direct, more tongue-in-cheek and without the holy message.

Some interesting ideas in this thread about whether they could have achieved a similar pivot by focusing on the waste in their products -- making them recyclable, longer-lasting and out of greener materials.
 
Yes, not sure what all the fuss is about. If you're not a dick, why would it offend you? Just give yourself a little pat on the back and carry on.

This has nothing to do with me or anyone else being a "dick" or not. This is a piece of fiction invented by advertising professionals. Let's not confuse it with social reality.

It offends me, like any other piece of holier-than-thou manipulation designed to occupy the moral high ground, because it treats people like gullible idiots. Unfortunately the "stupid but well-meaning" citizen is part of US folklore (Forrest Gump etc.) and there is a tedious tendency in the US media to moralise to those who are assumed to be in need of it. The fact that so many people in the USA reacted angrily to this ad is ample proof that Americans can in fact think for themselves.
 
...The fact that so many people in the USA reacted angrily to this ad is ample proof that Americans can in fact think for themselves.

Amen, brother. However, I need to be frank in that the dislike/like is split right down political lines for the most part. For those who liked the ad all I can say is this:

 
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