"Whenever, wherever, however it happens – your first shave is special."
This is the takeaway that Gillette wants to show, because we all know that having your father or parental figure teach you the adult things in life as we grow up are all special milestones and often fond memories. Heck, I know that--and my dad didn't teach me how to shave.
To put a new twist on the rather bland insight, Gillette cast a transgender male and their father. So while you do have the usual "beaming proud father" in the background, and the quiet moment of teaching the first shave mnemonic mantra, this is neither groundbreaking nor particularly touching. Gillette seems to hope this one is because of the transgender twist, but I doubt that is the reaction they will get. Like their "Toxic masculinity" advert, this may rub people the wrong way. While some loved that ad, others wondered what Gillette actually planned on doing to work against toxic masculinity, seeing the ads message as a thin veneer on nothing.
On Facebook Gillette wrote to Samson who stars in the ad:
"We’re honored to showcase this special moment between you and your father and are proud to have you as a partner. Thank you for your courage and confidence in sharing your journey to becoming your best self!"
Samson commented : "Thank you so much Gillette, for allowing me to share such an important moment in a man’s life with my father. I look forward to the great things you’re going to continue doing to encourage us all to be our best selves." Samson also used the hash tag: ‘My best self’.
Client: Gillette
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GOD HELP THESE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Permalink"While some loved that ad, others wondered what Gillette actually"
Kinda minimising the explosion there..With a collective hundreds of thousands of dislikes, and an overall 4% drop in sales it's pretty clear that the very few who liked the ad were massively outnumbered by those who disliked it or actively hated it.
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PermalinkSure, we got plenty of comments here hating the ad, but on our Twitter - https://twitter.com/adland - we got many more praising the ad in replies, and quote-retweets.
Much of that is unavailable to seek out today, as happens with the fleeting structure of social media comments, but you can still read the comments under our article, where I also made a point of collecting other advertising and marketing magazines reviews of the ad.
(This is why we leave comments open, by the way. To be able to find reactions and links in one spot. It's old-school, and we like it.)
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PermalinkHaha she is wearing a giant watch because she thinks that makes her a man
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PermalinkHeh, great, now I can't unsee how massive that watch is.
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PermalinkYou built an empire beyond imagining West.A pinnacle of human achievement and the envy of the world. Did you think it would last?
Like Rome, a glorious monument to power culture and learning, but now the Old Lion is lying wounded and dying, circled by vultures from middle east, Bought down by your own hands.
Soon the Middle East and West will clash culturally, and West will not survive the incoming storm
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PermalinkRidiculous stop supporting the obliteration of woman.
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