That tag line has always been some sort of excuse, hasn’t it? When I would hear it as a young child, I thought it meant that’s just the way adults described how boys could act. Both my parents were different. There were no excuses for me to act like a young jackass. If I wasn’t polite to my peers, boys or girls, or worse toward my elders, I heard about it one way or the other.
If I was ever disrespectful to an adult, especially one of my teachers, I caught some serious discipline at home. Privileges? What privileges? You want to go to the movies with friends? How can I be sure you won’t embarrass me after the way you treated your homeroom teacher last week?
Respect for others’ feelings, having your friend’s back when expressing an opinion, standing strong against critical comments and remarks, stepping in to stop a bully, giving someone a pat on the back—these are all things that by themselves are small, but in the moment when they are given each one can be a lifeline.
As in this commercial, my parents showed by the everyday example of their lives how I should treat others. Gillette is to be commended in taking the lead with this ad reminding us of that. All the boys of today will be the men of tomorrow. It is up to us to instill upright and courageous behavior into their character today.