Not having learned the lesson of companies wading into the waters of politically correct activism and suffering commercially as a result (aka Dick’s Sporting Goods, The NFL, Target, ESPN, etc.) the razor maker Gillette inserted itself into the public discourse this week.
To date their video has been viewed 20 million times on YouTube, and has received twice as many negative votes as positive. This follows the trend on social media and elsewhere of many suggesting the company fell prey to feminist dogma. Well that has become revealed to be more than true.
.@Gillette takes aim at toxic masculinity in bold, brilliant campaign by @GreyNewYork and Somesuch's Kim Gehrig.https://t.co/vsGEW0SoKF pic.twitter.com/NIdFzmLav8
— Little Black Book (@LBBOnline) January 15, 2019
The razor brand, in an effort to appeal to its voluminous male customer base, turned its advertising over to a female director named Kim Gehrig, and an ad agency with a resume of feminist commercial spots.
The first tip-off was a clip appearance of Ana Kasparian, from the Young Turks, giving commentary on sexual harassment. This was followed by imagery meant to lecture men on proper social behavior. little mystery why men may take a negative reaction from being called overtly violent and sexist.
Gehrig is essentially recognized in the industry as a strong voice for women in her work.
.@Somesuchandco dir. Kim Gehrig celebrates the diverse beauty of the vulva in this absolutely joyous, mixed media ad for @libressesverige 'Viva La Vulva' https://t.co/QJfwEuFpbl pic.twitter.com/YKIZczdtOv
— Directors Notes (@WeAreDN) November 27, 2018
Past commercials from Gehrig involved another lecture on male problematics in Australia. The spot addressed the problem of male violence, which seems a perpetual scourge in her world.
Then there is this one for Uber. Note her version of manhood as depicted. A beta male incurs a number of humiliations in the course of a series of stops during a date.
The agency behind the Gillette emasculation was Somesuch. That outfit has done a number of commercials as well which are female-centric. One for Secret antiperspirant addresses the female corporate pay discrepancy.
? #IdRatherGetPaid directed by @RaineAM for @SecretDeodorant ?https://t.co/O85X3OIXlv Somesuch x @anoncontent pic.twitter.com/ZHDlxsh2xB
— SOMESUCH (@Somesuchandco) November 19, 2018
There was also the Super Bowl car commercial, that has a voice-over from a father bemoaning all of the social travails that his daughter faces. All of these challenges are due entirely to her being a female — and presumedly they are all repaired by the fact the father drives an Audi.
Well, that was an easy fix!
The tagline in that commercial was “Progress is for everyone”. This seems to also be the personal mantra of Sally Campbell, the founder of Somesuch. She has not tweeted out in about a year, but that only means it has been that long since her strident leftist voice has been heard.
.@POTUS 61% of your country thinks you couldn’t organize a piss up in a brewery, on this anniversary you’re on shut down, go back to reality TV…
— sally campbell (@sallyc70) January 20, 2018
Proud to be here @Janefonda @sundancefest #womansrally pic.twitter.com/RV0tVfYdun
— sally campbell (@sallyc70) January 20, 2018
Well, this dissipates any lingering mystery. If the lecturing commercial spot felt like a scornful feminist lecture, it is due to the fact that the company turned the reins over to a group of feminist executives. And this was not by accident.
According to The Daily Mail, the British ad executives were selected after Proctor & Gamble (parent company of Gillette) commissioned Gehrig through a non-profit outfit called Free The Bid, which assists in getting work for female, and non-white, commercial directors. So almost a version of advertising affirmative action.
Meanwhile, as the company seeks to upset its core customer base, they have also unintentionally drawn fire from the female audience. The backlash has included women regarding the razors for women being insulting not only because of the colors, but also the pricing.
It seems Gillette prices the women’s line higher than their standard razors of comparable design.
This tweet goes out to all you #WokeLiberals praising @Gillette 4 their dumb ad-while at the same time ignoring a so called “pink tax” some ppl don’t realize it costs more to make pimped out razors for chicks but that’s beside the point-& P&G 4 destroying the rainforest4 $. ?
— Hunter (@Hunter68948943) January 18, 2019
Me: The new @Gillette add is great.
Also me: @Gillette why is a 8 pack of women's blades $3-4 more than men's? #pinktaxhttps://t.co/k5GYxNgzrghttps://t.co/VqqqV88rFy— Anna Richardson (@AnnaRich1982) January 16, 2019
If @Gillette would just go ahead and remove the pink tax from their products, then they might be taken seriously about the treatment of women. #TheBestMenCanBe #pinktax
— Stephanie Pelley (@StephaniePelley) January 15, 2019
The Gillette #pinktax they really don't want to talk about pic.twitter.com/F87LXiutRd
— NoBigGovDuh (@NoBigGovDuh) January 18, 2019
Gillette, the most honest a company can get?? #pinktax #theyrefrauds pic.twitter.com/Yf9J0jocUC
— Dr. Dangles (@MastahTJ) January 17, 2019
Bet hey, they CARE about women and the issues surrounding their plight in dealing with the scourge that is the toxic male. So what if that costs a little extra…
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