Sing it with me now, kids of the 80s and 90s, “Gillette! The best a man can geeeeet!” It’s a famous jingle that most of us recognize immediately, because Gillette has been around since, um, literally forever for all things razor-and-aftershave related. But since releasing a new ad yesterday, they’re adding another verse to their usual tune by stepping up to the plate and telling men that “the best a man can get” can only be achieved by being a good man – and by showing boys how a good man treats others, including women.
In the notes of their YouTube video ad, Gillette says, “Bullying. Harassment. Is this the best a man can get? It’s only by challenging ourselves to do more, that we can get closer to our best. To say the right thing, to act the right way. We are taking action at http://www.thebestmencanbe.org. Join us.”
The ad – which, spoiler alert: WILL GIVE YOU GOOSE BUMPS is full of scenes of men um, not being their best selves, and then switches to a montage of men and boys doing the right thing over, and over, and over. It speaks of change, because, honestly? Gillette is right in inferring that what’s been acceptable behavior in society for men and boys for centuries is really not ok.
As a mom of two boys, I have striven from day one to raise good men. I have the most wonderful father, brothers, and husband who have shown me what that looks like. But it means so much more when these good men set the example for our boys, doesn’t it? I can tell my boys every little thing to do and not to do, teach them about Jesus and the Golden Rule, but I cannot, for the LIFE of me, show them how to be a good man. Because I’m not one.
There are thousands of boys, sadly, who don’t have a great male role model to show them how to be a good man, the best man. So I love the way that Gillette calls out ALL men and asks them to show the men and boys in their lives how to treat each other, to tell them when they are doing wrong, and to stand up for what is right.
GILLETTE!! I love this ad and I am HERE FOR IT! As a woman, and as a boy mama, thank you, for doing more. You’ve been a symbol of masculinity for decades. Now you’re going to be a symbol of change.
Check out the ad below, mamas. Chills? Goosebumps? I’m even more inspired than ever to raise men who love others well and always speak out against wrong.