Sigh.

It keeps getting worse. Much worse, very quickly.

By now we have grown to expect corporations to rush into questionable marketing decisions in order to signal just how Left-wing they are, but if you thought there would be a limit to how ridiculous the marketers could get you will be sorely disappointed.

This time the malefactor is Braun, which makes stylish products that overpromise and underdeliver, all at a price that will break the bank for ordinary folks like you and me.

Budweiser got into hot beer over its decision to use the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to advertise its beer, so Braun had to go one better.

It is using a post-op trans-“man” posing shirtless while using a Braun shaver to get that silky smooth skin which she sacrificed by taking testosterone.

BRAUN 🪒 features a transgender biological female with double mastectomy scars in their new shaving advert for their men’s shaving range. pic.twitter.com/TYD01CEkdl

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) September 19, 2023

Braun’s decision to one-up Budweiser and Target is likely to get it in some hot water with its customers but is almost as likely to get it into trouble with regulatory agencies that monitor how advertising is done. It turns out that there are rules about how cosmetic surgeries are portrayed in commercials, and in the rush to prove just how trans-friendly it is Braun has run afoul of them.

The saving grace, of course, is that anything that promotes alphabet ideology is automatically considered wonderful.

Braun advertises men’s trimmers using trans model https://t.co/vgeUmFW6wO

— David Strom (@DavidStrom) September 19, 2023

Braun has been called “irresponsible” for advertising men’s trimmers using a trans model with surgical scars.

A model photographed using the The Series X Hybrid Trimmers for men is seen with surgical scars from what appears to be a double mastectomy operation.

Campaigners have claimed the advert breaches the Advertising Standards Authority guidance which warns against “glamourising” or “trivialising” cosmetic surgery.

The ASA in its social responsibility section of its website states: “Marketers should take care not to trivialise the decision to have cosmetic surgery.

“Procedures should always be portrayed as something that requires time and thought and should never be portrayed as ‘safe’, ‘easy’ or ‘risk free’.”

Maya Forstater, the executive director of Sex Matters, said: “Promoting the removal of healthy breast tissue is not only shockingly immoral, but against advertising standards guidance to not glamourise or trivialise cosmetic surgery.

“The campaign perpetuates the terrible lie that women can become men if they have their breasts removed and take hormones.

“Braun executives must have been living under a rock if they think that this campaign represents ‘inclusivity’. The reality is that Braun has now written itself into history as promoting social contagion and what will become one of the most notorious medical scandals.”

What makes Braun’s choice of model so shocking is the emphasis–obviously intentional and in many ways the key part of the ad’s messaging–on the “top surgery” scars and fake nipples of the model. Since ads are intended to be positive portrayals of the product and the scene in which they are portrayed, Braun wants you to think of the top surgery as a normal and even positive thing.

“Hey, isn’t it great that she got her breasts chopped off? The scars are a badge of honor!”

It is difficult to imagine that despite the clear violation of the Advertising Standards Authority’s guidelines Braun will get in trouble with any authority. The fact is that trans-activists are significantly more powerful culturally than almost any other group. Corporations live in fear of their wrath–apparently far more in fear of their power than that of their consumers.

If anybody thinks that corporations do this in order to appeal to consumers they are delusional. Not only is the objective evidence entirely to the contrary–corporations have lost billions of dollars doing much less offensive advertisements–there simply is no obvious financial benefit, given that the new group of potential consumers is so tiny.

This is about signaling to peers in their circle–the World Economic Forum types who see their mission to reshape society, not satisfy consumer demands. Consumers are the ignorant plebs who need instruction in right and wrong.

After months of controversy surrounding other companies going down this path, it is mildly surprising to see yet another brand go full alphabet. I wouldn’t have expected the ideological bent of the corporations to change, but I did expect that they would be more subtle.

Instead, they have gotten more obvious and offensive.