Actions have consequences.
Gillette CEO Gary Coombe said he does not regret his company’s controversial marketing campaign targeted at the #MeToo movement even though the company has taken an $8 billion hit.
Coombe called it a “price worth paying” in a Monday interview with Marketing Week. Procter & Gamble, the parent company of Gillette, announced Tuesday they had taken over $5 billion in losses for the quarter, after Gillette had an $8 billion noncash writedown. P&G led by Gillette has seen its market share for razors fall over the last three years.
Coombe admitted #MeToo ad the company put out in January was a ploy to capture market share among millennials, a space in which they were losing market share to Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club.
In January, Gillette ran the short film “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be” which took on “toxic masculinity” and the #MeToo movement. Some criticized the ad for “virtue signaling” and making broad generalizations about male behavior. In May, Gillette also ran an ad depicting a man teaching his transgender son how to shave for the first time.