On my mind: Gillette ad, senior year

Marley Wells, Web Editor

This new column, “On my mind,” is a place for Blotter reporters to air their thoughts of small grievances or facts of life to hot takes over major events.

If you’re offended by the Gillette ad, you’re part of the problem. On January 13, Gillette released a new ad based around the idea of men being “the best [they] can be.” The two-minute video shows hypothetical instances of sexual harassment in the workplace, bullying, and assault– all of which are major problems plaguing our nation today. The #MeToo movement is still in full swing and just this last Saturday, 10-year-old Louisville native Seven Bridges committed suicide due to bullying by his classmates. One would think that an ad essentially just preaching that people should be, well, decent people would be well received, right? Wrong. While the ad on YouTube has 710,000 likes, it is outweighed by a staggering 1.2 million dislikes. Social media platforms quickly flooded with boycotts against Gillette, grievances from now former customers, and men claiming that the ad portrays all men as being toxic whereas in reality it is just a select few bad apples. Supposedly.

The entire intention of the ad was that it’s not enough to not be a predator. It is our job, or rather a fellow man’s job, to call those who are predators out on their toxic behaviors in order to stop the cycle of enabling and excusing. The ad doesn’t portray all men as the problem as some offended viewers have perceived it. In fact, it portrays men as being the solution: with your help and your voice, we can work towards ending things like harassment and bullying. Unless you are A) a predator yourself or B) knowingly and ignorantly allowing the men around you to engage in such activities, you have absolutely no reason to be offended by this ad. If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it. This ad is neither for you nor about you. If preaching hope, change, and accountability offends you because you feel lumped in with those “bad apple” guys, maybe you should take the time to realize that you are one yourself.

Senior year? Yeah, it sorta sucks. I remember being a wee little fifth grader looking up to my then-senior sister and thinking, “Wow, she is so cool. Senior year will be so fun. You’re so close to college.” Oh, 11-year-old Marley. If only you knew. Now that I myself am a senior just over six months away from being a college student, I can see all of the ways that senior year is overrated. Now that I’ve been accepted into college, everything seems pointless. My motivation is low and subsequently all I care about is what the next year will bring me. However, I am also filled with fear. For the last 18 years, I have known life a very specific way: living in New Albany, Indiana. Always having my parents to rely on (and live with). The money I make from my job mainly going towards playthings rather than subsisting. The end of senior year means the end of that way of life: I will be living in a college town hundreds of miles away. Seeing my parents sparsely and living by myself. Every penny going towards things I previously hadn’t worried about, like rent or groceries or flat sheets. 11-year-old Marley, you got a big storm comin’.