| By Kevin Kohls |
Earlier this week, Gillette razors made waves with a new ad that addresses toxic masculinity through the frame of Gillette’s past advertisements. The ad has brought forth passionate responses from those who support it as well as those who rebuke the message.
With memorable taglines like “The Best a Man Can Get,” Gillette advertising has had a place in American culture for more than a century. Throughout the twentieth-century, Gillette ads could be found in every major newspaper. We have collected nine examples of Gillette ads from Gale Primary Sources that help provide a window into the cultural moments in which they were created.
Advertisements in historical newspapers like these offer a unique record of how culture, commerce, and politics intersect and allow students to contextualize current events.Air Force 1