Be the man
Men are supposed to be tough. Men are supposed to tease strange women on the street. Men are supposed to boast of their masculinity by making fun of other men’s vulnerability. Men are supposed to be many things, aren’t they? In January 2019, the shaving company Gillette released a new short film called “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be” by playing on the company’s 30-year-old tagline “The Best Men Can Get.” (Figure 1). It challenges audiences to confront the #Metoo and issues like “toxic masculinity” with images of bullying, sexual harassment, and mansplaining. It also contradicts the notion that “boy will be boy” and urges men to be responsible for their actions. I believe this is an exceptional campaign for two reasons: its daring message, and its target audience.
Figure 1: Reproduced from: Advertising Vietnam 2019
Say no to toxic masculinity
First, it is undoubtedly a clear and daring message that came from a male-centric company like Gillette. The concept of “toxic masculinity” has existed for decades coming from teaching boys that they cannot publicly express emotions, that they must maintain a tough appearance and use violence as an expression of power (Salam 2019). It, nevertheless, does not mean that all men are intrinsically toxic. Moreover, according to Dr. Jaffe (2020), boys are equipped with no resources and a total misconception of intimacy that leaves them to depend on ancient standards, fantasy-based edutainment, and misguided viewpoint about the world. That resulted in the way men defining their manhood through drugs, violence, ripped abs, mistreating women, and endless porn. Consequently, to respond to the rising of the #Metoo movement and toxic masculinity, Gillette delivered an unequivocal and powerful message that encourages men to personally define their masculinity, abandon the “boy will be boy” notion, and urge other men to account for misogynic behaviors and attitudes. This message also answers men’s desire to be better by suggesting its time for a change and self-criticism, and there are no better messengers to assist men in confronting these problems than other men.
Figure 2: Father stops boys from fighting. Reproduced from: Net Imperative 2019
The next generation of men is watching
Figure 3: Reproduced from: Ultimate Business Propellor 2019
Lastly, it targets the right group of people: male, at all ages. As mentioned above, men are easily exposed to toxic masculinity at a very young age and grow up lacking proper correction. With a clear message and truthful footage in the short film, Gillette has not only its current customers but also its future customers which are young boys inspired that to be better men. No one can change the past or fix what had happened, however, the world can be adjusted if each person starts changing their mind (figure 3).
It's time for men to define their own masculinity
If a campaign that directly and aggressively criticizes ‘toxic masculinity’ were to launch in Vietnam like “The Best Men Can Be”, it would receive more negative feedback than positive ones. Since most Vietnamese men still possess a patriarchal mindset and demeanor due to traditional masculinity ideology that has existed for thousands of years which makes them more inflexible in understanding, accepting, and comprehending novel ideologies. My recommendation for the local brands is instead of directly attacking men’s egos, let’s start with gently and easily approached messages such as urging men to express their emotions or orienting men on how to treat women more equally and so on. Though it sounds such an easy job, it still takes a long time for Vietnamese brands to adapt this idea into their campaigns.
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REFERENCES:
Jaffe, A 2020, ‘Men will be men: The troubling origin of toxic masculinity’, Psychology Today, 29 January, viewed 20 March 2020, <https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-about-addiction/202001/men-will-be-men-the-troubling-origin-toxic-masculinity>
Salam, M 2019, ‘What is toxic masculinity?’, The New York Times, 22 January, viewed 20 March 2020, <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/us/toxic-masculinity.html>
IMAGE REFERENCES:
Clemett L 2019, ‘Is Gillette the best men can get?’, image, Ultimate Business Propellor, viewed 22 March 2020, <https://ultimatebusinesspropellor.com/is-gillette-the-best-a-man-can-get/>
Net Imperative 2019, ‘Gillette sparks social media storm with “Best a Man can be” ad’, image, Net Imperative, viewed 22 March 2020, <http://www.netimperative.com/2019/01/gillette-sparks-social-media-storm-with-best-a-man-can-be-ad/>
Ngọc Anh 2019, ‘Gillette có quá liều lĩnh khi “lên lớp” khách hàng của mình?’, image, Advertising Vietnam, viewed 22 March 2020, <https://advertisingvietnam.com/2019/01/gillette-co-qua-lieu-linh-khi-len-lop-khach-hang-cua-minh/>