- If you watched the news
or spent any time on your phones last month,
you might have heard about a recent ad
from Gillette that went viral.
Gillette's trailblazing campaign shed a light
on the way toxic masculinity impacts our society
and left us wondering how we can build
a positive narrative surrounding masculinity.
Joining us now is Damon Johns,
vice president of global communications
and advocacy at Procter & Gamble,
who will share more about what went into
this groundbreaking piece.
(audience applauding)
(upbeat music)
- Good afternoon.
I am Damon Jones from Detroit,
Michigan, and I too, am my brother's keeper.
(audience applauding)
You know growing up in Detroit,
as a boy, my mission in life,
as much as I had one, was simple.
Have fun, eat cake, win games,
and don't get caught in between arguments
between my three sisters lest
it become three on one real quick.
A bit older, I grew curious
and started to ask questions, lots of them.
Why this?
How that?
You see, I wanted to learn
as much as I could about the world around me, so I explored.
Some things I should and
some I probably should have left alone.
As young man, I became more aware
of the surroundings behind me, around me.
I became more aware of my mother spending nights
and weekends in union politics,
my father struggling to build
and grow a business so that we could provide
for us on his own terms.
And seeing my grandmother sow acts of love
and care and compassion to hurl gifts
of food often on Sundays after service.
You see, she was the church mother.
It was clear though that when the time was right,
I would choose my own path,
but their example always guided me to do my best,
not anyone else's, my best.
Fast-forward, as an adult,
I'm blessed to help lead a company
that is one of the world's largest advertisers.
Beyond products and jobs and work in our community,
perhaps the most powerful thing
that we do is through advertising
that positively impacts billions
of lives around the world every day,
while promoting accurate,
positive portrayals of women and peoples of color.
We call that being a force for good and a force for growth.
But we know that being our best means helping
others be theirs, even when it's not popular.
A few years ago, through a program with Always,
we helped change what it means to do something like a girl.
Once a slight, it's now a badge of honor
that really embodies all
that today's women's movement has become.
More recently, we spotlighted racial bias through
an Emmy Award-winning program called The Talk.
You know the talk.
You had it from your mother,
your father, the lady down the street, right?
That tough love, the lessons on life
and reality that sometimes just help
you understand the hard,
harsh reality of what it's
like to grow up a black or brown boy or a black
and brown men in America.
You see, consciously and subconsciously,
like film and TV, advertising shapes how we see the world,
how the world sees us and importantly how we see ourselves.
These messages, these images, these words, they matter.
They can make us laugh or cry or pause and think,
and done well, they inspire us to be the very change
that we know our world needs.
What you see for too long,
we've all focused on a very narrow definition
of what it means to be a man.
Aggressive, fearless, always winning and never crying.
But the reality is masculinity alone does not
make you a man,
no matter how you define it.
Coming in first doesn't make you a champion
if you bully your way there
and getting to the top at the expense
of others isn't worth the journey
because you'll be there alone.
(audience applauding)
So we're challenging ourselves.
(audience applauding) Thank you.
We're challenging ourselves
and each other to change that narrative,
not only for us, but for the future generations
like my nephews who will repeat our words
and who will repeat our actions.
We're challenging you to break free
of a simple definition to embrace an identity
that allows you to be you authentically,
live your best life and be your best self
with integrity, empathy, and respect.
You see, it requires more
than just handling your business though.
It means helping others handle theirs,
even when they don't look like you,
even when they don't love like you,
and even, especially at times when the deck
isn't stacked in their favor.
So with that, I wanna share with you our point of view,
told through the eyes of Gillette,
one of the world's biggest male brands,
a more positive version of masculinity,
celebrating men stepping up
and stepping out to be their best,
our best, the best as men we can be.