I started noticing something shift around 2016. A major razor brand launched a campaign with all the usual suspects: chiseled jaw, sports car, the conquest aesthetic. The comments section turned into a roast.
Men under 35 weren’t just ignoring it. They were actively mocking it.
The engagement metrics told the real story. This demographic was repelled. What struck me wasn’t that the product failed—it was that the entire aspirational framework collapsed. Men were saying “this isn’t who I want to be anymore.”
The Flawed Gentleman Wins
While traditional brands bombed, Dollar Shave Club exploded. Their launch video cost $4,500 and gained 12,000 customers in 48 hours. Within a year, they had 800,000 subscribers.
The difference? They weren’t selling perfection.
Their campaign featured a brutally honest actor walking through a razor factory, just talking. No chiseled models. No sports cars. Just transparency about what they offered and why it mattered.
The message was clear: be the flawed gentleman. Be unique to who you are, rooted in being a man, not a model.
The Authenticity Premium
Here’s what surprised me most: men started paying more for transparency than transformation.
I watched heritage brands like Filson showcase worn leather and frayed edges, calling it “character” instead of damage. Premium prices followed. Grooming brands like Aesop and Harry’s won by saying “here’s exactly what’s in it, no bullshit.”
Research backs this up. Ads scoring high on positive masculine portrayal showed 37% stronger sales lift. Meanwhile, 86% of consumers consider authenticity important when choosing brands.
The purchase data is definitive: men will pay more for brands that feel honest, even when the product isn’t dramatically different from competitors.
Anti-Marketing Takes Over
I saw a premium clothing brand shoot their campaign in a junkyard. Real people wearing their clothes in deliberately anti-aspirational settings.
This wasn’t an accident. They consciously rejected the aspiration model. The term that emerged: anti-marketing.
Brands are now positioning themselves against marketing itself. In an era where AI can create perfect commercials instantly, people crave what’s real. They actively tune out polished perfection.
By 2017, Dollar Shave Club held nearly 50% of the online razor market and generated over $200 million in revenue. Gillette, which owned 70% of the men’s shaving market in 2010, was forced to slash prices and launch subscription services.
The Market Is Moving
The shift is happening at break-neck pace.
Kantar’s 2024 research shows ads that avoid gender stereotypes generate up to 20% more engagement and improve long-term brand perception by 15%. The inverse is also true: traditional alpha male portrayals are predicted to be less effective both short and long-term.
University of Illinois research found men often respond to “ideal masculinity” depictions with skepticism, avoidance, and indifference. The very thing brands thought would attract men is pushing them away.
Brands clinging to the old playbook aren’t just losing market share. They’re losing relevance with an entire generation that rejects dominance-based messaging entirely.
The alpha male dream didn’t just fade. Men walked away from it.