Post Gillette: other brands are better at matching practice with talk, but don’t get the publicity
First it was burning running shoes, and now it’s boycotting razors. This is how some customers are responding to recent brand activism initiatives, write Jessica Vredenburg, Amanda Spry, Joya Kemper and Sommer Kapitan in this crossposting from The Conversation.
Brand activism is becoming increasingly prevalent as brands try to stand out in a cluttered and fragmented marketplace, driven in part by heightened consumer expectations of a brand’s power and duty to do good. In this emerging space, brands have a choice when and how they decide to take a stand, what causes they choose to engage with, and what sort of message they send about this support.
Procter & Gamble razor brand Gillette’s viral campaign against toxic masculinity is an interesting case study.
The campaign
Gillette’s campaign “The Best Men Can Be” plays on their slogan “The Best a Man Can Get”. It is backed by $3 million in charitable donations over three years to causes such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
