"Is this the best a man can get?"
+ READ ARTICLEA new Gillette commercial calling out “toxic masculinity” has sparked both praise for and criticism of the razor company.
The new “We Believe” ad — a 48-second spot that Gillette shared on its social media accounts on Monday — plays on the company’s tagline of “Is this the best a man can get?” to address issues like bullying, sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement.
“Is this the best a man can get? Is it?” a voiceover says in the ad. “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. But some is not enough. Because the boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow.”
Since the commercial’s debut, some have voiced their support for its rebuke of the “boys will be boys will be boys will be boys” mentality while others have threatened to go so far as to boycott both Gillette and parent company Procter & Gamble.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]However, despite backlash, it sounds like the company has no plans to pull the spot. “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,” Pankaj Bhalla, Gillette’s North America brand director, told CNN Business.
Watch the commercial below.