Press Release

All India Men’s Welfare Association (AIMWA) is the first ever organization formed to protect the rights and interests of men and to fight against all kinds of discrimination against men and boys in all arenas – social, legal, economic, etc.

AIMWA has launched a massive online protest against the “Women against Lazy Stubble (W.A.L.S.)” campaign started by the Gillette brand of Procter and Gamble India Ltd. (P&G) wherein P&G openly declared the campaign as “Women on the warpath” and has called men, who sport stubble or prefer to remain unshaven, as lazy in order to boost their sales of products of the shaving range.

The demands made by AIMWA are as follows

1. Procter and Gamble should stop the “Women against Lazy Stubble” campaign immediately.
2. They should publish a 10 cm. X 12 cm. apology for insulting men, in all leading national dailies, on either the front page or back page.
3. Actresses Minisha Lamba, Neha Dhupia and Mugdha Godse should tender apologies to all men for calling them lazy and urging women to detest unshaven men.
4. Procter and Gamble should also tender an apology for making a Gender Hate Speech, and
5. They should give an undertaking that they will never design sexist anti-male ad campaigns in future under any circumstances.

Shaving is not a sign of Laziness, but a matter of fashion

Original Comments.

Translated Version:-

In continuation with the article, Navbharat Times conducted a poll asking, “Whether sporting stubble is a sign of laziness or a fashion statement? They got a lot of answers. Some selected ones are printed here –

• This ad is completely gender biased. They are doing this for their own profits. These kinds of promotion techniques are shameful for any company – Swarup.
• According to me, it is wrong to say that men do not shave due to laziness. Ordinarily, men professionals shave as per the code and conduct of their service, but men in middle and lower positions are very busy in their work and household chores and do not get time to shave. Hence, lack of time is the reason for not shaving. In a modern society, shaving is a part of fashion only as a man can do anything to look like a hero – Dr. O. P. Sharma.
• I think stubble is a matter of fashion and not laziness. Gillette should apologize for their statement – Neena Dhulia.

Written By: – Poonam Pandey

New Delhi: Boys…have you shaved? If not, then you might just be tagged as lazy. At least those women can do so who are listening to Bollywood actresses Mugdha Godse, Neha Dhupia and Minisha Lamba. In a new ad campaign started by Gillette, the multinational brand of safety razors, these beauties are appealing to women to encourage their men to shave and also that those men who do not shave daily are lazy.

This ad campaign has hit many a men and they have started a crusade against it. An organization by the name of All India Men Welfare Association (AIMWA), has started a protest against this ad campaign, terming it anti-male, not only in India but in the US as well. They have demanded an apology from the multinational and if no response is received in the next 4-5 days, then AIMWA will make complaints to the ministry of Information and Broadcasting and other appropriate forums.

Men Stand up for their Stubbly Chins

An MNC can’t make fun of masculinity

Gillette is breaking families

PRESS RELEASE

Sub: Announcing boycott of Procter and Gamble Products

About AIMWA:

All India Men’s Welfare Association (AIMWA) is the first ever organization formed in India to fight against all kinds of discrimination against men and boys. AIMWA was launched in Hyderabad on 11^th October 2009 and has expanded to Bangalore and Chennai within two months of its launch with around 1000 members.

Background:

Gillette, the manufacturer of branded shaving products for men has come up with the idea of “Women against Lazy Stubble” wherein men not shaving, or men sporting stubble have been tagged as “lazy” and their women have every right to detest and demean them. And Gillette also tags this campaign as “Women on the warpath”. This ad campaign was launched on November 7, 2009 and includes campaigns on various media channels as well.

AIMWA perceiving this campaign as downright sexist and anti-male launched a massive online protest against the ad-campaign and demanded apology from Procter and Gamble as well as the brand ambassadors Minisha Lamba, Neha Dhupia and Mugdha Godse. The demands of AIMWA were well voiced by our media friends.

PRESS RELEASE

Sub: Announcing December 7 as the National Stubble Day

About AIMWA:

All India Men’s Welfare Association (AIMWA) is the first ever organization formed in India to fight against all kinds of discrimination against men and boys. AIMWA was launched in Hyderabad on 11^th October 2009 and has expanded to Bangalore and Chennai within two months of its launch with around 1000 members.

Background:

Gillette, the manufacturer of branded shaving products for men has come up with the idea of “Women against Lazy Stubble” wherein men not shaving, or men sporting stubble have been tagged as “lazy” and their women have every right to detest and demean them. And Gillette also tags this campaign as “Women on the warpath”. This ad campaign was launched on November 7, 2009 and includes campaigns on various media channels as well.

Objections:

AIMWA perceives this campaign as outright against men and is protesting against,

1. Violation of fundamental rights of men.
2. Negative portrayal of men by calling them lazy.
3. Infringement of choices by men.
4. Unnecessary financial burden on men, and
5. Imposing of conditions on men.

“Women against Lazy Stubble (W.A.L.S.)” is a sexist anti-male ad campaign with the message that since women like men who are clean-shaven (as per some challengeable research), those men who do not shave will be marked off as lazy and their women have every right to detest them and not co-operate with them. Without going into the righteousness of the spirit of the campaign let’s look where can such a campaign lead to in a society precariously poised against men and considering abuse of men as social service.

All the characters in the narration below are fictitious and bear no resemblance with any person living or dead whatsoever. Any such resemblance is co-incidental.

Abhishek is 29 years old, has a degree in management, a well-paid job in an MNC, an apartment, a car, lives away from his parents who are financially not dependent on him and is the only child of his parents with stunning looks and dashing personality. In short, he is just the husband any woman can dream off. And so comes Neha’s dream true with as his alliance get fixed with her.

Procter and Gamble India Ltd. the parent company of GILLETTE the famous brand of shaving products for men has started an anti-male sexist campaign to boost their sales.

They are flaunting a flawed research that 94% women like men clean shaven, whereas umpteen number of independent researches sans any commercial interest and involving a far greater audience have  proven the exact reverse – that women prefer men with stubble.

Had it been limited to this, it would have still been acceptable, however, Gillette wanted to stoop to levels far lower than this one. They went ahead to start a campaign, “Women Against Lazy Stubble” and called all men who do not shave or rather do not get time to shave as “LAZY” which is downright demeaning and insulting to men.

They roped in Minisha Lamba, Neha Dhupia, and Mugdha Godse (aspiring Bollywood actresses) as brand ambassadors.

If you think keeping stubble is your rights as a man or your man has a right to decide when he should shave or not and calling all men who do not shave as lazy is infringing into men’s rights, participate in the phone action against Gillette India.

Here’s what you can do:-

1. Call at (+91 22) 2826 6000 and tell them you are a member of the “Stubble India Movement” and have come to know of a campaign started by them called, “Women Against Lazy Stubble”. Ask them, why are they doing so?

2. Write to Gillette and Proctor and Gamble at dutta.a.2@pg.com, mittal.r.2@pg.com, vaidyanathan.d@pg.com, gillette_investors@masserv.com, gillette@in.pgconsumers.com and ask for apology from them on behalf of “All India Men’s Welfare Association“

3. Call Rashi Mittal at +91 22 2826 7463, Abijit Dutta at +91 22 2826 7476 or Deepa Vaidyanathan at +91 22 2826 7243 and ask for explanation from them for the mass insult of men.

The latest style mantra of small screen actors is look with Stubble which is grabbing them all the success they aim for. Lets check out how the beard factor has brought good luck and loads of female fans for actors like Shabbir, Ram Kapoor

Kapoor and others..

There was once a time when it was believed that there is a women behind every successful man. But today, our actors in order to get attention of the producer, viewers are spotting STUBBLE to get the macho man image. So lets check out style mantra of these stars whose has climbed the ladder of success with just a changed look.

If one take a sneek peek onto our Bollywood than the the Stubble style mantra has been started by Abhishek Bachchhan who has miraculously touched success after his changed look. We simply cant miss our Hollywood hunks like Jhonny Deep, Leonardo Di Caprio, Orlando Bloom etc who started the trend and made all the stars adopt the similar style mantra.

Coming back to our television world, lets see who managed to touch success by being extra macho and spotting STUBBLE.

Forget all the jazz about being metrosexual and freshly scrubbed and clean shaven. It is the thin line of fuzz on the jaw line that separate the men from the boys. Facial hair has never been so hot. And Bollywood’s leading men are flaunting this look in all their bearded glory. From Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan at the IIFA awards to Neil Nitin Mukesh and Saif Ali Khan, everyone is sporting a sexy stubble.

Actor Aashish Chowdhry who is a big fan of the “five-o-clock shadow”, says, “A slight stubble not only makes you look macho, but also gives you a strong edge. Chocolate boys may appeal to teenagers, but it is the Bollywood hero with the stubble that impresses all the ladies,” quips the actor who is always spotted with a stubble himself.

Actor Rajeev Khandelwal, who is known for his chocolate boy looks, says, it is the beard that makes him feel like a “man”. “I’ve always been touted as the cute boy by everyone. And to change that image, I started sporting a beard. It worked wonders for me. Facial hair if maintained well can take away the boyish quality from the face and make you look intense. Now I’m a big fan of this look. And if I ever want to get back to that chocolate look, all I need to do is shave,” he says.