This peremptory conclusion of Yahoo! has turned Gillette’s (P & G) campaign of “Women against Lazy Stubble into a fiasco!

Poor Gillette! it’s ill-conceived ad promotion campaign is money down the drain!

Stubble is the way to win a woman’s heart, a study has shown. Researchers found that women are more attracted to men with stubbly chins than those with clean-shaven faces or full beards.

Women participating in the research rated men with stubble as tough, mature, aggressive, dominant and masculine – and as the best romantic partners, either for a fling or a long-term relationships.

The findings of the experiment, carried out on British women aged 18 to 44, could explain the appeal of actors such as George Clooney and Brad Pitt who cultivate their unshaven look.

The Deccan Chronicle eulogizes the “thin line of fuzz” and encourages you to “Step out in style with a sexy stubble” by this statement:

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.

Though this will boost the morale of stubbly hunks, it surely blunts the edges of the razor business! And Gillette is obviously worried. They have to do something to get the men reach for the razor and start scraping off their facial growth in the wee hours of the morning for their till to jingle nonstop!

But how? Catch the women! But should it not have a facade of a truthful campaign? Easy. Declare aloud that “a study has revealed that women have started liking men with clean shaven look”. What if it is travesty of truth! All is fair in war and business.

Now the big business is out with their bag of tricks. M/s. Procter & Gamble India Ltd, the owners of Gillette brand of razors, have ushered in a sexist campaign maligning men with stubble. The onslaught begins like this:

‘Women Against the Lazy Stubble’ (WALS) “No more Excuses for Men Not to Shave!”

The slogan is followed by an overt threat to the men of India:

The message that WALS intends to spread to men across the country is three fold:

1. Till men don’t shave, we will not co-operate with them.
2. Now that the comfort of Gillette Mach 3 is affordable, there are no more excuses to not be shaving.
3. If men don’t shave, they shouldn’t expect women to groom themselves either.

This offensive campaign is perceived by men of India as highly objectionable and are terribly upset over this.

Hence All India Men’s Association (AIMWA) demands immediate scrapping of the campaign and issue of an apology by P&G for badmouthing and insulting men of India as a whole through their press release.

Here is how men express their agitation and indignation against the ill-conceived campaign of P&G:-

• Stubble Rubble
• Dear Ladies, I love my stubble
• Boycott Gillette Razor for Promotion of Domestic Violence Against Men and Treat Men as Free ATM machine.
• Stubble is a Man’s Right
• Women Against Male-Bashing

More blurb on the glory of the Stubble:

• Behind every successful star there is STUBBLE!
• “Facial hair or beardedness is a powerful sociosexual signal, and an obvious biological marker of sexual maturity,” said lead researcher Nick Neave of Northumbria University.

This will keep things in perspective!