Back in January, Gillette decided to go ‘woke’ in their marketing and released an advert lecturing men on toxic masculinity and accusing them of ‘excusing bad behaviour’ while portraying masculinity in a stereotypical and negative light. 

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Here’s a reminder:

I guess Gillette thought that they were going to be lauded as some kind of social justice heroes but as The Daily Wire reports, it turns out the campaign backfired in their faces, with parent company Procter & Gamble reporting a massive $8 BILLION writedown since the ad was released. 

It wasn’t just the ‘toxic masculinity’ ad that caused a backlash against Gillette. In the months following the ad’s release Gillette doubled down on the social justice messaging by releasing a ‘fat acceptance’ ad as well as an advert showing a father’s first time teaching his female-to-male transgender child how to shave. 

The brand has now done a complete 180 and announced they are “shifting the spotlight away from social issues to local heroes”.

Gillette offered a number of other explanations for its heavy losses, including currency fluctuations and “more competition over the past three years and a shrinking market for blades and razors as consumers in developed markets shave less frequently.” While all that is true, they also found out that the average person doesn’t really want to be lectured on how to be a better person by a razor company. Better late than never I guess. 

For the men’s cuddling group which is seeking to end toxic masculinity through cuddling, click HERE. Seriously?