Gillette, the men’s grooming brand from the house of P&G seems to be in the limelight and the brand of the moment, though not for everything positive. The brand first made news when it dodged Hardik Pandaya as its brand ambassador following the controversial Koffee with Karan episode. Then a few days later, the brand was yet again the center of the topic regarding its new ad, which challenged toxic masculinity? The ad received both positive and negative comments and has been making waves ever since it was published.
Now yet again, after an article was posted on LinkedIn by the Chief Imagination Officer of a PR firm called Atharva Marcom, the brand is being targeted and spoken about.
Gillette happened to be the sponsor of the recently concluded cricket series in Australia wherein India lauded the country. But the emphasis was brought on the Gillette being the sponsor of a team in which most of the players sporting a beard. The post remarked, “Irony is when your sponsor is a shaving company, And all the players have beards! #brandalignment #WeDoGreatPR”
While most of the comments that followed applauded his observation skills, some came to the defense of the brand saying ‘Gillette sponsored the tournament, not the team’.
Well that’s actually true, Gillette sponsored the ODI series and cannot be held responsible for the personal choice of keeping a beard by the players, yet the irony of the association cannot be ignored.
The brand team, that has run memorable campaigns called ‘Shave India Movement’ and ‘Shave-athon’ in the past, and they might need to do some head scratching before projecting their associations in the future.
