Overview

"The Best Men Can Be" is a public service announcement (PSA) released by the men's safety razor company Gillette promoting the #MeToo movement and condemning behaviors associated with "toxic masculinity". The content of the video was hotly debated online following its release in mid-January 2019.

Background

On January 14th, 2019, the Gillette YouTube channel uploaded a short film titled "We Believe: The Best Men Can Be." In the video, various men are shown looking into mirrors along with voice-over narration about the #MeToo movement, bullying and toxic masculinity, displays the question "Is This the Best a Man Can Get" and then shows depictions of men fighting, committing sexual harassment and talking over women (shown below).

Within 24 hours, the video gained over 121,000 views and 6,800 comments. Additionally, the video received more than 24,000 dislikes to 3,900 likes. According to an article on Forbes,^[2] the comments on the channel were "overwhelmingly negative" by a "ten to one margin." Meanwhile, the @Gillette^[3] Twitter feed tweeted the video, which garnered upwards of 187,000 likes and 76,500 retweets in one day.

Developments

Online Reaction

In the comments section of the video, YouTuber Dash Attack replied "My wife's son loved this. Thank you!", to which Gillette responded they were "happy to hear" (shown below). In response, many mocked Gillette for replying to the comment. That day, several posts mocking Gillette for failing to recognize the "My Wife's Son" meme reached the front page of the /r/the_donald^[12][13] and /r/CringeAnarchy^[14] subreddits.

In response to the @Gillette tweet, game developer Cliff Bleszinski tweeted^[7] "Lotta fragile bros in this thread only providing it right" (shown below).

Meanwhile, Redditor BernillaryClanders submitted a photoshopped Gillette ad featuring a screencap from the "It's Ma'am" video to /r/TheDonald,^[4] where it gained over 10,700 points (91% upvoted) and 680 comments within 24 hours. That day, Redditor lengau_isadoos submitted a post titled "Gillette razors deserve the coming boycot" to the /r/unpopularopinion^[5] subreddit, where it garnered upwards of 4,200 points (76% upvoted) and 1,900 comments in the same time frame. Also on January 14th, Redditor RusherOfBin submitted a post calling for viewers to "make #boycottgillette trend across the internet" to /r/MensRights.^[6]

On January 15th, comedian Ricky Gervais posted a tweet^[4] mocking Gillette for the PSA (shown below). That day, the tweet gathered more than 24,900 likes and 4,000 retweets.

Gillette's Response

On January 14th, CNN^[1] published an article about the online reaction to the PSA, which contained a statement by Gillette's North American brand director Pankaj Bhalla:

"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."

"So There I Was" Copypasta

In the coming days, a copypasta mocking the PSA began circulating across various online platforms, including 4chan^[10] and Reddit.^[8][9]

So there I was, putting on my rape shoes, and practicing my sexual harassment pickup lines this morning. I just got done cyberbullying my coworkers. It was time to shave, I yelled at my wife to smile because I demand it, while pinching her butt right after she told me she didn't consent to it. Putting on the shaving cream and thinking about how I can get my son into a fight at the next BBQ, I replaced the worn Gillette brand Mach3 and began to chant "boys will be boys" as I started to shave. Then suddenly my daughter burst into the bathroom holding her phone. As I began to mansplain to her why she isn't smart enough to know my shaving time is my time she showed me the new Gillette ad. I realized how my every view and behavior I've ever held dear was wrong. I'm calling in sick at the toxic masculinity factory today and registering Democrat. Thanks Gillette, now excuse me while I help to impeach.

Dollar Shave Club

On January 14th, 2019, Dollar Shave Club posted the message "Welcome to the Club," which many interpreted as a response to the Gillette ad backlash (shown below).^[16]

On January 16th, composer Martin O'Donnell, known for composing music for the games Halo, Oni, Myth and Destiny, tweeted^[17] that he signed up for Dollar Shave Club to the @Gillette account (shown below). That day, The Daily Dot^[18] published an article about the tweet titled "Video game composer boycotts Gillette after anti-toxic masculinity ad."

Toilet Photo

On January 15th, 2019, Twitter user @warroom tweeted a photograph of a safety razor floating in a toilet along with the message "Goodbye Gillette. Hello Schick #GilletteAd" (shown below, left). Within 48 hours, the tweet gained over 7,500 replies, 4,700 likes and 1,300 retweets. In response, many mocked the tweet with references to the "trigger the libs" meme (shown below, right). On January 16th, The Daily Dot^[15] published an article highlighting the tweet, along with various jokes mocking it.

Egard Watches Ad

On January 15th, 2019, the Egard Watches YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "What is a man? A response to Gillette", which contained various videos of men serving in military and performing difficult tasks along with captions displaying facts about male suicide rates and homelessness (shown below). Within 72 hours, the video accumulated upwards of 420,000 views and 4,100 comments.

PETA's "Traditional Masculinity Is Dead" Ad

On January 16th, 2019, PETA tweeted a video of various men thrusting their hips while wearing phallic strap-on fruits and vegetables, along with the message "'Traditional' masculinity is DEAD" (shown below).

"Bro! Not Cool" Edits

In late January 2019, the scene in which a man trying approach a female passer-by is stopped by another man gained popularity as an object-labeling meme template. On January 25th, Redditor^[19][20] jillianbrodsky posted a two-panel meme and a template based on the scene to /r/MemeEconomy subreddit. The post gained over 33,900 upvotes in three days.

In the following days, more versions of the meme were posted in various subreddits and on Instagram.

Search Interest

External References