• Austin Wolf does the “How Hard Did Age Hit You?” challenge (above). I wish age would hit me that hard… LOL. And is it just the fact I’m older that I think most people’s ‘after’ photos look better?
• Ohio’s new GOP governor has signed a new executive order banning LGBT discrimination in regard to state business.
• Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has declared her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination, but does her history as a full-throated homophobe disqualify her?
Gillette has debuted a new campaign, “The Best Men Can Be,” with a minute and a half video that’s getting props and criticism.
The new messaging is a riff on “The Best a Man Can Get” tagline which debuted 30 years ago in 1989 during Super Bowl XXIII.
The new 90 second spot, titled “We Believe,” asks the viewer, “Is this the best a man can get?” as we hear terms like “bullying,” “MeToo movement,” and “masculinity” in the background.
The text of the voiceover reads:
“Is this the best a man can get? Is it? We can’t hide from it. It’s been going on far too long. We can’t laugh it off making the same old excuses. But something finally changed and there will be no going back. Because we, we believe in the best in men. To say the right thing, to act the right way. Some already are – in ways big and small. Some is not enough because the boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow.”
Visually, we see a group of boys chasing other boys while slurs of “loser,” “sissy,” and “freak” are printed across the screen; fathers at a backyard cookout watching boys fight while saying, “Boys will be boys;” sitcom and movie situations where adult men pretend to grope women.
“Bullying. Harassment. Is this the best a man can get?,” reads the video description. “It’s only by challenging ourselves to do more, that we can get closer to our best. To say the right thing, to act the right way.”
There’s also a link to a new brand site, TheBestMenCanBe.org, which offers more insight into the new company positions on healthy masculinity.
“As a company that encourages men to be their best, we have a responsibility to make sure we are promoting positive, attainable, inclusive and healthy versions of what it means to be a man,” says Gillette at the new site.
In addition, Gillette pledges to donate $1 million per year for the next three years to non-profit organizations that set out to “inspire, educate and help men of all ages achieve their personal ‘best’ and become role models for the next generation.”
Sounds like a worthy message, yes?
But if you click over to the YouTube page where the video lives, the comments are over-the-top negative.
At this writing, the clip has garnered 14K ‘thumbs down’ votes versus less than 2K ‘thumbs up’ votes.
Joe Jervis at JoeMyGod notes that the far-right, conservative website InfoWars sent their flying monkeys to the video page to troll.
“I hope this anti-male propaganda film costed you a lot and that the outcome will cost you a lot more.” “Let’s try cultural castration as our marketing strategy.” “Two kids play-fighting on the grass, which is probably one of the most fun things to do as a kid with your friends and they break it up. It just shows how detached these pig feminist demagogues are.” “Gillette getting Cucked” “Never shaving with Gillette again. Take your propoganda elsewhere.” “My masculinity isn’t toxic, your femininity is.”
AdAge notes that Gillette’s new messaging joins other men’s personal care products, like Just For Men and Unilever’s Axe, that now aim for “an evolved outlook on masculinity.”
What do you think, readers? Is the new ad spot aspirational? Or insulting to men?
Are men stuck in a ‘catch 22’ in trying to be their best while attempting to fit into an ever-evolving definition of ‘masculinity?”
For the first time in the history of the U.S. government, the House of Representatives voted to ban employment discrimination against LGBTQ staff members as part of a package of rules that will govern the chamber over the next two years.
The new rule was championed by Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, one of eight openly LGBTQ legislators in the new Democratic-controlled House.
“Government at its best works for the benefit of all Americans, not just the powerful and privileged,” said Cicilline said in a statement to NBC Out. “Protecting the rights of LGBT employees is just the right thing to do.”
LGBTQ advocacy group The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement hailing the new rule as “an historic moment for our country.”
“For the first time ever, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity will be banned in the House of Representatives,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “This action to protect LGBTQ congressional employees from discrimination is the result of millions of Equality Voters going to the polls in November to ensure their voices were heard and demanding a Congress that looks like America.”
Many Americans erroneously believe that LGBTQ discrimination is illegal across the United States.
But, as the HRC notes, half of LGBTQ Americans live in states without legal protections in regard to employment, housing and other arenas.
I’ve previously reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced she plans to make passage of The Equality Act a priority in the new Congress.
The Equality Act would amend existing civil rights law to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes from discrimination.
This past weekend, folks all over the globe took part in what has become a highly-awaited annual event – The No Pants Subway Ride.
Begun in 2002 by the New York City street theatre group Improv Everywhere, the event has spread to Chicago, Amsterdam, London, Toronto, Calgary, and more.
The rules are simple: Board the subway in the middle of the winter acting as if all is completely normal, except no pants wearing allowed.
In some cities, groups organize meet-ups at specific times and locations to participate en masse.
It seems to be one of the few times subway authorities take on a ‘no pants, no problem’ policy.
The Trump Shutdown is having a negative effect on Donald Trump’s approval ratings
The conservative-leaning Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll (Donald Trump’s favorite, as a matter of fact) for Monday shows the Trumpster at his lowest approval rating in the poll in nearly a year.
From the poll:
• Trump’s approval rating has dropped to 43% versus 55% who disapprove of the job he is doing
• Among those who feel ‘strongly’ about their opinion, 32% ‘strongly approve’ of the job Trump is doing, 46% ‘strongly disapprove’ of his performance
The president’s overall job approval rating has been dropping since his primetime address from the Oval Office last week demanding funds to build his beloved wall.
Political satirist Randy Rainbow serves up his hysterical parody “There Is Nothin’ Like A Wall,” riffing on the hit song from the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic, South Pacific.
The video in set against the backdrop of Rainbow interviewing Vice President (and “RuPaul’s Drag Race season 3 finalist”) Mike Pence.
Donald Trump finally gave reporters a clear ‘no’ today when asked about the allegations that he’s been trying to conceal his communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I never worked for Russia,” Trump told reporters. “It’s a disgrace that you even asked that question because it’s a whole big fat hoax. It’s just a hoax.”
“I never worked for Russia,” President Trump says in response to a NYT report that the FBI opened a probe.
Trump also said he doesn’t know anything about what happened to the notes taken by an interpreter when he met with Putin last summer in Finland.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told reporters today that she believes Donald Trump seized his translator’s notes after a 2017 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin because the West Wing had been “suffering from a great number of leaks” at the time.
She also admits, however, that she hasn’t discussed the issue with Trump.
@WhiteHouse doesnt seem to be denying that @realdonaldtrump confiscated interpreters notes from Putin conversation. @KellyannePolls says she hasnt talked with POTUS directly about it, but suggests part of the reason may have been #leaks of information around the time of the G-20.
Colin O’Leary as ‘Liza Minnelli’ in Act II O’Leary Car Ride: Showtunes 2019′
Colin O’Leary, whose home video featuring him lip-syncing to hits from Broadway musicals went viral last year, has shared what he’s calling “Act Two” of his hilarious compilation of car rides with his perpetually unimpressed mom, Carol.
Watch below as the karaoke car rides get even more impressive in terms of costumes and set design as he mimes along to hits from Annie, Gypsy, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Newsies, and many many more!
God bless his mom, Carol, for keeping a straight face.
Pay attention and see if you know what musicals each ‘performance’ is gleaned from.
