Gillette says: We will continue to represent men at their best.
Early this year razor brand, Gillette, inspired by the #MeTooMovement, launched the campaign “The Best A Man Can Get” created by Grey New York. The film was directed by Kim Gehrig, a well known feminist.
However, after loosing 12 billions after backlash, Gillette it is now “shifting the spotlight from social issues to local heroes” after an ad delving into “toxic masculinity” caused a customer backlash. Watch the new sport here
The new ad, which launched last week, stars Australian firefighter and personal trainer Ben Ziekenheiner. “I’ve been a firefighter for 19 years,” Mr Ziekenheiner says in the ad.
Parent company P&G last month took a nearly $12 billion ($US8 billion) writedown in the value of the 118-year-old shaving business it purchased in 2005 for $84 billion ($US57 billion).
While the company blamed the writedown primarily on a strengthening US dollar, it said the non-cash impairment charge was also due to increased competition and a shrinking market for razors as men shave less frequently.
Mr Airan said while shaving frequency had been reducing, “for us it’s an opportunity”. “Despite shaving frequency decreasing our sales have increased (thanks to) the innovation we are bringing to consumers’ unmet needs,” he said.
Conservative critics were quick to connect the writedown to the brand’s recent push into progressive social issues, which rival Schick has pointedly mocked with a series of lighthearted ads taglined “The Man I Am”.
Watch Schicks’ spots:
Gillette’s too little to late
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