Have Proctor Gamble’s marketing geniuses struck gold by rolling out a new and dynamic way of marketing its Gillette brand or have they screwed the pooch?

Gillette’s video, The Best  Men Can Be, has gone viral, and predictably, has tongues wagging all over the internet, with people loving it or hating it, promising to become loyal customers for life or threatening to boycott Gillette and never use another Gillette product. Quite simply, the ad in subtle, and not so subtle, ways condemns what some people called “toxic masculinity” – you know, the type of masculinity where men are unashamedly happy about being born with one X and one Y chromosome and very grateful that their creator made them that way… instead of being made the other way with two X chromosomes.

Of course, in order to sell the idea that there is such a thing as “toxic masculinity,” you have to have some examples to demonstrate the legitimacy of your premise. Because some men just about always act like complete assholes, and because all men, at some times, act like complete assholes, there is no shortage of bad male behavior to point to. All you have to do is turn on the news or read a newspaper to see that.

So, where did this idea of “toxic masculinity” come from? Cultural Marxists originated the idea. They took the idea that the assholishness of certain men was merely a reflection of the way that men are at all times and in all circumstances and then exploited the perpetually offended and aggrieved by conflating the ideas of assholishness and masculinity. And, voila, “toxic masculinity” was born.

They figured that the way to defeat a muscular, aggressive, freedom-loving, no-nonsense masculine culture, like America was before the 1970s, was to gradually inject the idea into western society that this kind of culture was evil – because you can’t defeat a masculine culture like America from the outside. You have to undermine it and destroy it from the inside, little by little. And so the Marxists, aided and abetted by radical feminists (you know, the women who weren’t gifted with good looks, nice bodies and warm and loving personalities and, out of rage and jealousy, set out to destroy the women who had those qualities and the men who admired them) planted and nurtured it. And now that the rotten fruit of this idea is hanging from every cultural tree and vine, the popular media picks it, packages it and pushes it onto everyone’s plate, telling everyone how wholesome and delicious is the fruit of the tree of anti-toxic masculinity and urging everyone to eat from it.

Weak-minded global capitalists, who are completely out of touch with the people who actually use their products, are then sold on ideas like toxic masculinity by today’s marketing professionals. And who are these so-called marketing professionals? People who have graduated from colleges and universities who have been brainwashed by the same Cultural Marxists who have manufactured the whole idea of toxic masculinity, and who, as a reward for vomiting up the politically correct cultural Marxism du jour demanded by their college professors, have the pride and honor of obtaining a B.S. degree in marketing.

These proud B.S.ers have learned much in their studies. They have learned that condescension, moral-posturing, lecturing, boundary-violations and insinuating that your customers are potentially, if not actually, violent thugs and criminals, is a great way to go about their business of marketing products.  And why wouldn’t they? They live in a world where they are cheered on by the loudest and most strident ideologues out there, including many of those who will never use their products in the first place. And they earn the moral satisfaction of knowing what superior beings they are as they go about selling razor blades and shaving cream to those they consider their inferiors, both intellectually and morally.

Want proof? Talking about Gillette’s decision to wade into political controversy, PR expert Mark Borkowski said, “It is no longer enough for brands to simply sell a product, customers are demanding that they have a purpose – that they stand for something,” he said. “Masculinity is a huge part of Gillette’s brand, and there is a recognition in this ad that the new generation is reworking that concept of masculinity, and it is no longer the cliche is once was.”

So, there you have it. Of course, I did have one nagging question for Gillette: Who are these customers of yours that are demanding that you rework the concept of masculinity and stand for something, other than a close, clean shave?

And that’s when I realized what marketing geniuses the Gillette people are. After pondering Mr. Borkowski’s insightful comments on the mindsets of Gillette’s customers, it hit me like a punch to the gut: every single one of their customers is demanding this fundamental reworking of the concept of masculinity. And this has to be true, because those who thought that Gillette’s purpose was to sell razor blades and shaving cream have gone over to Bic, Schick and Dollar Shave and are now Gillette’s former customers.