Lynx, one of the world’s most shamelessly heterosexual brands, has shocked consumers in Australia with an advert that includes a gay kiss.
The male grooming brand claims to be be used by “over 8 million blokes across UK and Ireland” every day.
It has proudly positioned itself as a brand that “helps guys get the girls” by producing “products that guys love” and “ads that quickly become part of the British guy’s psyche”.
http://youtu.be/qmdlPBY7c8U
So is this a sign that the male psyche is now a bit more bisexual than it once was? Is modern masculinity more willing to accept that heterosexual sex isn’t the only way to enjoy your lynxed-up body?
Lynx’s previous adverts have shown the incredible power of the “Lynx effect” to turn average men into irresistible sex gods who cause angels to fall from the heavens, mermaids to drag them into the sea and thousands of bikini-clad babes to charge after them.
Celebration of heterosexuality
The brand is an unapologetic celebration of young, male hetereosexuality—until now. The latest offering from the laddiest of man brand’s shows a man on a sofa flicking through TV channels, showing clips of all the things he should do to celebrate his masculinity while he’s still got his youth.
The suggestions include “go out, see amazing things, get an amazing job, kiss the hottest girl, or the hottest boy, experiment with your hair and learn from your mistakes.”
The suggestion to “kiss the hottest girl, or the hottest boy” are accompanied by our hero in a film noir scene first pulling a hot girl to his lips and then turning away from her to kissing a hot boy.
The advert has run in Australia and has attracted some great comments on the Lynx YouTube channel which include:
“Man, cool advert… I like many of Lynx’s scents, but never normally buy them as I’m normally turned off by Lynx’s desperate-and-horny-teenage-hetero-boy vibe in their adverts, but this advert was pretty cool especially vis-a-vis who you could kiss… may have to rethink my self-imposed ban on buying Lynx!”
“Kiss a girl or a boy! YAY you guys rock! That’s such a positive message, kiss who you want it’s all good. I saw this add on telly and automatically found it on here so I could share it with all my friends.”
“So I saw this feminism advocate comment about pushing away a woman to kiss a man… CALM DOWN WOMAN. CALM YOURSELF. You’re such a sexist freak.”
Can masculinity be a bit gay?
Masculinity has often been conceived as a homophobic construct. In 1976, for example, David & Brannon proposed that there were four standard rules for traditional, American masculinity. These included
Rule 1: No sissy stuff—distance yourself from femininity, avoid emotions, be homophobic
Who would though that masculine Lynx, whose adverts have previously been banned for objectifying women, would present homosexuality as standard expression of masculinity.
Certainly not the gay website Pink News which has described the advert as “a step forward for the men’s deodorant and haircare giant, which normally only depicts straight men, and their quests to attract more women”.
What do you think? Is the inclusion of a gay kiss in a Lynx a positive sign that men are being given more choice in how they express their masculinity or another example of the creeping feminisation of men? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Article by Glen Poole author of the book Equality For Men
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