One more survey that is actually an ad?
This time it was Gillette.
On September 17, 2008 HT City carried a survey report that 91% of Delhi women were turned off by unshaven men, 82 percent of Delhi men are clean-shaven (I refuse to buy that), and across the metros most women found clean-shaven men more kissable.
It went on to add that 47% of the respondents thought clean shaven men are more likely to become millionaires (what if 53% thought otherwise), 47% thought mistakes are overlooked if they are made by clean-shaven men, and 50% think that your Visa application will be rejected if you have a stubbled look. The survey was conducted by -- no marks for guessing -- Gillette
The survey also gave details of how women liked their favourite stars -- Hritik Roshan, John Abraham, Abhiskek Bachchan and SRK among others -- whether clean-shaven, stubbled or full-bearded.
If you thought this was a subtle and tasteless campaign for selling more blades, worse was waiting to come.
Audio ads on Delhi FM stations said, "Bankers are more likely to reject your loan application if you have a stubble." Since there is no such thing as ¿news¿ on most private FM channels, this had to be a "commercial". The rest of the ad was essentially "Buy Gillette Mach 3 and shave off that stubble" or something like that.
This series of ads seem to be taking us back in time in more ways than one.
This is not about being better than your competitor. Somewhere, these ads give me an impression that people don¿t know there is something called razors. One senses a throwback to the "don¿t stay dirty, get Pears" kind of advertisements.
(Note that this one can not be compared to advertisements like that of Nokia Navigator phones, as it is not the case that a company is introducing shaving blades in the market for the first time.)
Two, they are plain racist.
Do the creators of this campaign really think it is hip to boast about cultural biases like mistakes being overlooked if you are clean-shaven and all that? If they really do, I think they need to take a lesson from another series of ads in town. "I am not fair but I am lovely -- I am not yesterday" -- say hoardings that carry an image of a beautiful dark model. "Is it true that women make bad drivers?" "Ask Sunita Williams", goes another ad on air. Advertising Mail Today newspaper, of India Today group.
Two days later, Delhi Times showed us clean shaven make-overs of Milind Soman and Kunal Kapoor. The news, of the launch of ¿Gillette Mach 3 Turbo¿ in
"It was part of their macho appeal -- Milind Soman¿s rugged beard and wild, long locks, and Kunal Kapoor¿s urbane but sexy stubble. But the two hunks have recently shaved off their stubble and chosen to go for the smooth, clean look. What made them do it was Gillette Mach 3 Turbo."
The actors, however, had a different story to tell. They did not quite owe up to the ¿stubbles are for losers¿ campaign. They refused to disown the stubbled or bearded looks that they were in for quite some time now.
"I¿ve never had any problem playing with my looks. We¿re actors, and need to meet the demands of different characters. And with Gillette, the best thing is it doesn¿t scratch your skin. When I decided to go for a makeover, it¿s the only one I could think of," says Kunal.
Milind said, "I don¿t know if women like men clean-shaven or with a stubble, but one thing is for sure -- a guy has to be confident about his looks."
Thank god, it is not the end of the world. Even as Gillette is doing its bit to kill the confidence of the sexy stubbled men.