The counter offensive begins.
A watch company has created a video called “What Is a Man?” in response to Gillette’s recent ad. The shaving company’s commercial sparked a controversy because many people found it to be insulting and condescending to men.
Egard Watch CEO Ilan Srulovicz told the Conservative Tribune he wanted to make a video that would uplift men and illustrate the beauty of true masculinity. He also told the news outlet he wanted to show some statistics about men that are often ignored.
“We see the good in men,” the video states.
“I, like the overwhelming majority of men, am absolutely disgusted by sexual assault, rape, bullying, so why throw it in my face as if my ‘gender’ as a whole is toxic,” Srulovicz told the Conservative Tribune. “Using terms like ‘toxic masculinity’ etc … is using too broad a stroke to address specific issues … issues which I agree, very much need to be addressed.”
Gillette’s ad invoked the MeToo movement and showed scenes of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying. The reaction was heated, but it earned millions of views on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The ad appeared amid the company’s struggles with revenue and growing competition from other company’s, the Associated Pressreported. The news outlet also called it an appeal to reach a younger audience.
Gillette’s ad may have had some good intentions, but it missed the mark, Srulovicz said.
Reinforcing the positive things about men is more effective than bashing men, he said.
“…The best way to do that is to show the best of us, not the worst,” he wrote in an email to the news outlet.
“When I see a man risking his life running in to a burning building, it makes me want to be better. When I see a father who will stand by his kids no matter what, it makes me want to be better. When I see a soldier putting everything on the line to preserve my freedom, I want to be better.”
“That’s what a man is to me and they represent a far greater majority of men than what Gillette portrayed a man to be.”
What are some of the challenges men face?
Srulovicz video also cites figures from Bureau of Labor Statistics:
- Men make up 93 percent of workplace fatalities.
- Men represent more than 97 percent of war fatalities.
- 79 percent of homicide victims are male.
- Men make up 80 percent of suicide victims.
- 75 percent of homeless people are men.
Bonus vid:
