Why 'We Believe: The Best Men Can Be | Gillette (Short Film)' Misses the Mark

Still from 'We Believe' Gillette Short Film.

If you're one of the few people who haven't at least heard about Gillette's short film, We Believe: The Best Men Can Be then take a moment to watch their video below. It seems like it is an earnest attempt to address undesirable male behaviour and attitudes that have become branded with the unhelpful term 'Toxic Masculinity' but for me, and a lot of people, it just missed the mark.

At this point, the real success of the film, despite the Youtube dislike ratio of approximately 2:1 is the increased brand awareness for Gillette - and I guess the 1 million a year for the next three years they will be donating to programs supporting men of positive action (but they could have done that anyway with no fanfare).

I get what Gillette were going for here by showing examples of past/current behaviour/attitudes in communities, business, and media that has brought about terms like 'toxic masculinity' and the #metoo movement. It's an attempt at reflection on whether men are really doing enough. (Kind of makes sense for a product used in front of a mirror usually).

This is then contrasted against men who are doing more to be better and encouraging their peers to be better which I think is kind of overshadowed by the opening negative examples and the closing statements of needing to do more.

It's certainly true that the boys of today will be the men of tomorrow but we don't really get much of a sense of who the boys in Gillette's film are really learning from. It's kind of ambiguous because the film is raising the question of what kind of example are you setting for them?

In short the film is not really inspirational or aspirational. It's reflective - which may have been the intent in a 'I'm starting with the man in the mirror' kind of way - and doesn't make anyone feel all that good about themselves at the end. The film doesn't really motivate in that uplifting way of saying 'Yeah I want to do better!'

The real heroes of the film are lost in the wishy washy middle bit. The boys who somehow grew up knowing how to be the best a man can be and are passing on those values. Imagine if the entire film had focussed on them?

At the risk of promoting a male stereotype we're not that complex. Give us heroes to aspire to, make them inspirational, and let them lead by example. Most men like to think they can be heroes. Maybe not necessarily on a grand scale but certainly within their social circles. We've all got a bit of the alpha male within us. We like to think we can handle anything life throws at us.

It's really just a matter of making sure our heroes reflect positive values... you know, don't build a wall, build a bridge.

One of the most memorable 'short films' by a brand in my opinion is Coca-Cola's Security Camera ad. It simultaneously promotes the brand positively and promotes exceptional moments of daily life around the world. The concept is raised further by the simple yet clear message of Supertramp's song 'Give a Little bit'. Watch it below.

Whilst the ad doesn't ask anything from you it does encourage you to think differently about words normally associated with negative behaviour and ultimately suggests the world isn't necessarily as bad as media might lead you to believe.

Something like this might have been more appropriate for Gillette. Something that celebrates the men who just live their lives without being a dick, and who do try to pass on positive values to their children, friends etc.

Instead we get a short film calling all men out to do better at life... oh and buy a razor.

Comments

What a Future with Flying Cars Might Look Like

Jetsons Style Flying Car - Image by TET & Leonardo.ai Regular readers of this blog will know that flying cars have been a recurring subject over the years. I even collected all my posts into a book you can buy on Amazon Kindle called Where's My Flying Car? The development of a true flying car is a fanciful one, largely because we've yet to come up with anything that actually looks like a car that flies. Most serious projects that even make it to a prototype are either small planes that compact into something you might drive from your home to an airport (if they don't have any vertical landing and take off (VTOL) capability) but you wouldn't drive to you local supermarket for the weekly groceries run, or they're some kind of drone/helicopter configuration with so many propellers you'll worry about shredding pedestrians who get too close. The dream is something that looks exactly like a car but can drive on a road, or hover (kind of like Luke Skywalker's ...

Review: ArtHelper - The All-In-One AI Writing + Marketing Assistant for Artists - 'ChatGPT for Artists'

ArtHelper prides itself on being all 'human-made' art. T he idea of an AI, trained specifically on art business marketing, that can not only offer advice on marketing your work, but also assist with creating all the content too, is certainly appealing. Especially to those of us who would rather spend more time creating our art than trying to sell it. ArtHelper does just that whilst attempting to be your 'home' on the internet. A destination for your profile and portfolio, a marketplace for your art, and a directory of artists as well, with one distinction - all the art must be human made. Which, for you AI artists, doesn't count the prompt for AI generated art - because the idea, according to ArtHelper's creators, isn't the art. Which is a fair point, in terms of promoting art 'made by a human', but can get kind of murky when you understand that not all AI art is generated from a single prompt... and 'found object art' isn't actually ...

New Cat Art Collaboration: TET's Cats Paintings and OpenArt AI Model Workspace (Photobooth)

TET's Cats AI generated art trained on my own art style. Way back in the early 2000's I started painting stylized cat artworks to illustrate some cat themed poems I'd written, that I exhibited and sold online in an exhibition titled 'Sleeping Cats' in 2004. You can see all these early works in my Flickr Album . Many are also available to buy as prints in my RedBubble Store . Leading on from that I began selling my paintings on ebay where the cat themed works were almost guaranteed to sell over any other subject I painted. As a result I became some what known for my cat art to the point where people would commission me to create images of their own pet cats in my cartoony style. Flash forward a decade (almost two at this point) and I haven't painted any cat themed art in years. To be honest I haven't done any traditional painting at all in years. In the last couple of years AI image generators have really caught my attention. Specifically that they are able t...

Is AI Art 'Art'? The Say NO to AI Art Movement, and Why Human Artists Will Adapt

AI Art No T-Shirt by TET Also available on other items . Right now there is a big debate over not just whether AI art is 'art' but whether AI's are actually ripping off the work of actual human artists, without their consent, to create their images - particularly images 'in the style of' specific artists. From my own observations this debate started to get more traction when artist's signatures began appearing in the output of AI Art image generators. Is It Art? Cool Froyd the Cat Sketch by TET. My style is very much influenced by classic Disney and WB character styles. To get some clarity on how real human artists work (of which I am one)... we, that is all of us... take influences from the art that has come before. i.e. whatever artists we like, have studied, seen etc. we are influenced by. It shows up in our work, intentionally or not. If you really study my own cartoony art style you'll see I'm heavily influenced by early Disney and Warner Bros cart...

TET Artwork Diary: Cats, Goats, and Battlestar Galactica's Cylon, Number Six

Y ou wouldn't know it from this blog, where I reference it a handful of posts , but I am a big fan of the rebooted 2003 Battlestar Galactica Series . Which is how I come to be Facebook following the series most recognised Cylon, Six - well the actress who plays six anyway, Tricia Helfer . One thing you'll learn pretty quickly about Tricia is that she owns a lot of rescue cats - and that she's more at home being a farm/country girl, surrounding herself with animals than she is living in cities - though she definitely seems to drift between the two worlds with ease. Cats and Goats Tricia with Larry and Earl. Still from Tricia Helfer's FB Video . However, this is a blog post about a cat and goats, specifically Trica's Goats, Larry and Earl, that currently live at the Farm of the Free . She posted a video of herself visiting them on her Facebook . Click the link for the full video. Cat at Farm of the Free with Tricia, Larry, & Earl. Still from Tricia Helfer's F...

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de...

Two night Stay Glenelg, South Australia - Glenelg Motel, Beach Front, Cafe Strip/Jetty Road, and Evening Temptation Twilight Cruise

The Glenelg Giant Wheel. T he Glenelg foreshore and Cafe/Shopping strip (Jetty Road) at the end of the tramline from Adelaide, South Australia is arguably one of the must visit tourist regions of the city. It particularly has a lot to offer families with, not just the beach, but quite a number of playgrounds and grassed reserves as well. My partner booked us a post weekend, two night (Sunday and Monday), getaway in Glenelg by way of some discount vouchers she secured as part of a promotion encouraging people to visit the region over the Summer. Glenelg Motel The recently refurbished rooms of the Glenelg Motel raise your expectations from what the exterior of the rooms themselves suggest, which is a very 1970's vibe of your standard motel with parking right outside your front door (and not much else). Our room was spacious, and the modern furnishings were easily to the standards of any hotel we've stayed in over the last few years. The rooms look very modern with everything you...

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog