When I first saw the new Gillette commercial pop up on my timeline, it gave me chills. I couldn’t believe that a company with a predominantly male audience would choose to use their platform to spread social awareness about toxic masculinity.

The commercial, called The Best A Man Can Get, depicts two different types of men.

First we have the sexist, socially unaware guys who get in fights with each other and catcall women. These are also the ones who witness two little boys fighting and robotically chant “boys will be boys will be boys will be boys…”

Then we have the self-assured, upstanding men who aren’t afraid to step in and stop what they see. These men intervene at just the right moments when their friends are going to inappropriately pursue a woman, and they break up the children’s fight with advice like “that’s not how we treat each other, okay?” 

The advertisement’s overall message is that the boys of today are the men of tomorrow. We need to raise them right.

Uplifting, right? Well, it appears that not everybody thinks so. Apparently some are interpreting the commercial differently.

I was shocked and saddened to hear what news sources like the Daily Beast and Fox News had to say on the subject.

The Daily Beast opened up their article with the endearing phrase “Not today, feminism.” That gives you a pretty good idea of how the rest of that story went.

“You’re not going to find an advertisement like that directed at women,” sneered Matt Walsh, their “special” guest. “You’re not going to find an advertisement that shows women, you know, gossiping, and nagging their husbands, and shopping too much.”

You’re right, Matt. We probably will not see a commercial like that. Shopping and gossiping has not yet resulted in movements that have to combat sexual harassment and the silencing of an entire gender.

I would also like to point out that the commercial was empowering men to do the right thing, not just labeling them with boyish immaturity. In no way was the ad generalizing all men and blaming them for the world’s problems.

If you are a man who got offended at that commercial, it is directed at you.

While disappointing, it is not unheard of for the Daily Beast to take a stance like that. I was slightly more stunned to read what a prime source like Fox News had to say about the ad.

Not only does the article end with a typo; it is written like an angry 15 year old boy is trying to win an argument with his sister (and losing).

The article uses intelligent rhetoric like “insecure rubes” and “this ad sucks!” to get its point across. It even goes so far as to guess that the Gillette executives are getting their ideas from Teen Vogue.

Maybe… Or they might have gotten them from the news. Or women. Or respectable men who have been bullied and beat down by other men who get offended by Gillette commercials.

What these organizations don’t realize is that promoting fairness is not the same as undermining men. This commercial was made for a reason, and the impact it’s already having is astounding.

Young boys who are just starting to shave will see this commercial and remember it. Fathers of sons will teach them to be honorable just like the men in the video.

Toxic masculinity may be an overused phrase, but we will not stop saying it until that behavior is completely obliterated.

Thank you Gillette, for opening up a conversation that is long overdue. The world needed to see this.