Gillette Ad

Gillette's advertisement features a series of societal problems such as bullying, sexual harassment and the objectification of women, then asks, "Is this the best a man can get?" The ad is targeted towards men, specifically men with sons as it appeals to the audiences need for guidance since it urges men to be more accountable and to take an active role in effecting change. The advertisement's purpose is to criticize toxic masculinity present in today's society and persuades men to be a better example to the younger generation as the ad uses little children to display the effects of such masculinity. The ad shows how gender roles are perceived by the public as the ad shows a women cleaning the house being humerously groped by a man while the audience laughs in response showing that women are perceived helpless in society and that men have a dominance over women. The ad also shows a woman giving her insight and ideas to her colleagues but then one of the mean decides to talk over her and belittle what she is saying by shutting down her ideas which implies that men are considered smarter than women and again showing that men have a dominance over women. Another thing the ad presents are two small boys fighting each other while their fathers watch them and chant 'boys will be boys' implying that boys should be encouraged to be aggressive. However the advertisement takes a turn from showing how this wrongful interpretation of masculinity has caused issues to showing how men should be the ones holding themselves and other men accountable. The ad then shows a woman walking past a man who then decides to follow her but is then stopped by another man who tells him that what he is doing is wrong insinuating the idea of men should hold other men accountable. It also shows a man holding his sons hand while running through a crowd to stop a group of boys from abusing another boy. This appealed to the audiences need for guidance as it shows the man's son looking up to him and persuades the audience to make a change to what the word 'men' means in order to be an example to younger children. Throughout history, ads have presented women as helpless and objects for men and have presented men as powerful and dominant figures. The understanding of this historical context allows the audience to recognize how values are presented in today's societies and what effects they can cause.