Guess what happened to Gillette after 'toxic masculinity' ads

Gillette ran an infamous "toxic" masculinity ad during the Super Bowl casting men as sexist bullies, followed by one in which a father teaches a daughter who is "transitioning to be a man" to shave.

The February ad prompted an immediate backlash, with many men vowing to stop using Gillette products, charging the ad assumes most men are misogynistic.

Now, P&G is reporting a net loss of about $5.24 billion for the second quarter due to an $8 billion non-cash writedown of Gillette, according to Reuters.

For the same period last year, Reuters noted, P&G's net income was $1.89 billion, or 72 cents per share.

The Super Bowl ad, according to a press release, begins with "a compilation of actions commonly associated with 'toxic masculinity,'" including online bullying, laughing at misogynistic TV shows and "mansplaining" an idea to a female work colleague.

But "something changed" not long ago, the ad says, referring to the #MeToo movement. It shows clips of men defending others from bullying and hurtful behavior.

A narrator says: "We believe in the best in men. To say the right thing, to act the right way. Some already are. But some is not enough. Because the boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow."

In a London Daily Mail column at the time, Piers Morgan noted the Gillette ad came the same week as an American Psychological Association report that condemned traditional masculinity as "harmful."

In May, Gillette stirred the pot again, this time portraying a father teaching a daughter who is "transitioning to be a man" to shave.

"Growing up, I was always trying to figure out what kind of man I wanted to become, and I’m still trying to figure out what kind of man that I want to become," says the main character, Samson Bonkeabantu Brown.

"I'm glad I'm at the point where I’m able to shave. … I’m at the point in my manhood where I’m actually happy. It is not just myself transitioning, it is everybody around me transitioning."

The ad fades to a screen with the words, "Whenever, wherever, however, it happens your first shave is special."

A parody of the Super Bowl ad emphasized how Gillette trashed not only masculinity but white men in particular: