Following the controversial start to the year with it’s ‘We Believe: The Best Man Can Be’ campaign, Gillette have launched a new advert. Featuring Samson Bonkeabantu Brown, a Canadian transgender teenager the advert shows him and his real-life father who is teaching him to shave.
Despite the mixed response in January, the brand pushed forward with this latest advert that has been praised, not only for it’s inclusivity, but also for addressing a subject that resonates with the trans community.
The scene opens with Samson saying, ‘Growing up, I was always trying to figure out what kind of man I wanted to become and I’m still trying to figure out what kind of man that I want to become.’ His father is then shown encouraging him as he shaves, “Don’t be scared. Shaving is about being confident.”
In response to the #MeToo movement, Gillette launched the #MyBestSelf campaign to address the dangers of toxic masculinity, but was hit by controversy with some viewers seeing it as the brand trying to make a comment on feminism.
