Last week, like a lot of people, I sat down and watched Louis Theroux’s latest documentary, ‘Inside the Manosphere’.

I knew I wanted to write something about it, but suddenly, now I have fingers on keys, it’s difficult to really put into words how I felt hearing the messages that are being sent to young men and boys every day by these influencers, and thinking about the effect this will have on them, and the girls and women around them. It was disturbing, confounding, and honestly, sad, but it was also just the tip of the iceberg. When you start down that rabbit hole of incel and red pill, it just feels like it never ends.

So, what does this have to do with business?

Everything!

When you put aside the topics covered by the Manosphere influencers, what you essentially have is a business. A brand that has done its homework, identified its target audience, zoomed right in on their pain points, and shaped its messages (whether they genuinely believe them or not) in such a way that they don’t just hit, they penetrate deep into the psyche of their end user.

Tick, tick, tick. Grow!

As marketers, we know that to that point, they are doing exactly what is needed to build an effective brand.

But then, rather than really solving those identified pain points — developing a long-term solution that actually addresses their problems — those ‘businesses’… those individuals — have instead taken advantage of vulnerable minds, traumatic experiences, and the search for identity, to build their own brand awareness, loyalty, and perhaps most importantly, their wealth.

And let’s be real about this. They aren’t the first to put aside what’s right for what’s lucrative, and they won’t be the last. It’s not like we haven’t seen businesses poisoning waterways where communities live, factories full of poorly treated people, consumers harmed by sub-par products, and brands behind it all that don’t seem concerned unless it costs them.

The question is, how long can businesses like this — especially these ones centred around individuals — last in a world that is increasingly also populated by consumers looking for a genuine and less selfish purpose from the brands they support, seeking out companies with similar values to their own, and ‘cancelling’ those who are on a mission only to make things worse.

Are these one-man businesses taking advantage of a system built on a flawed foundation of mindless clickbait, and knowingly riding that wave while it lasts? Will the bulk of their audience grow out of them as they mature, meet new people, increase their worldly exposure, education and network, leaving them behind?

Or is it possible, like other industries and businesses before them, cigarettes, for instance, that despite their destructive nature and the people who oppose them, the work these brands are doing won’t just build momentary interest, but instead, a form of addiction that will see young boys grow into old men who are still smoking what these influencers sold them so long ago?

At Write Way Up, we fundamentally believe in the power of purpose; we believe there is a genuine opportunity for businesses to do good AND be profitable; we know that brands governed by values and principles that protect and support people and place are truly sustainable, that they can withstand the increased scrutiny of today’s society, and really last.

Hopefully these Manosphere brands, these businesses… these boys… see that opportunity, choose a more positive purpose and start to use their powers for good, otherwise, history tells us their time at the top, while maybe ‘a good time’ for them, likely won’t be a ‘long time’. The clock is ticking.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Congrats to Louis Theroux and his team for another insightful, intelligent, intriguing piece of work.

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