Brands in pursuit of The Missing Men.

2 June 2026

During a panel discussion on the opening day of a chaotic SXSW London, TOWIE's Pete Wicks was the star turn as modern masculinity was once again the spotlight.

According to a report being unveiled today, the majority of men do not relate to depictions of men they witness in entertainment and advertising. Neither do they feel that the various campaigns encouraging greater male vulnerability and openness are particularly helpful, as this does not come to them easily.

Will Barren, a senior strategist at ELVIS, outed himself as a huge fan of Pete Wicks - confessing that he had attended a live recording of his podcast - put questions to the three panellists about the issues surrounding modern manhood, while offering snippets of his own opinion from time to time.

Steven Lacey, founder of The Outsiders, explained what his organisation had discovered when they conducted research into male views about the so-called 'manosphere'. Contrary to his own expectations, Lacey discovered that the online preoccupation with Andrew Tate's agitory views about masculinity has passed many men by, and those aware of disapprove of Tate's misogynism.

“

I don't think the job of a deodorant brand is to encourage men to be more vulnerable.

”

Ben Curtis            

Lacey lamented the lack of useful role models for men, complaining that there are many positive depictions of women but very few of men: "Who are those role models? Where is the leadership coming from in terms of, you know, being a positive and being a man of these vulnerable people that can show weakness, that can show kindness."

Perhaps he is looking in the wrong direction though. You don't have to look far to find exactly what he says is non-existent. Noah Wyle's portrayal of Dr Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch provides a perfect example in the world of narrative fiction, and in the recent series of reality show 'Race Across the World' , teenagers Jo and Kush provided instructive ways of being modern young men.

Ben Curtis of Unilever offered a surprising perspective from a company that has spent the last few years marketing Dove Men+Care by connecting the idea that men should support one another, when he said: "I don't think the job of a deodorant brand is to encourage men to be more vulnerable."

This felt like a deliberate effort to fully repudiate the advertising industry's adoption of socially driven purpose which, thanks to the cultural dominance of Donald Trump's far right government, had already become as diluted as a homeopathy remedy.

Steven Lacey

Pete Wicks did as much 'show' as 'tell'. His lame jokes at the expense of Ben Curtis were a textbook example of how men use the language of 'banter' to communicate with one another, and amidst all the 'woe is me' histrionics about the lot of self-pitying men, perhaps the most useful contribution was the idea that men should not be discouraged from continuing to tease one another in this fashion.