Man Gets Backlash After Praising Wife For Working Out In Their Messy House Despite Having 'A Million Other Things To Do'
Maybe he should be doing more than recording a video.
TikTok After walking in on his wife working alongside a YouTube video in their living room, Phil Mackenzie, former Professional Rugby Player and the Founder of the LEANSQUAD, decided that he would upload a video about it on his TikTok page, “@leansquad1.”
What he originally found to be a heartwarming moment of his wife working out in juxtaposition to their messy home, he would quickly find out was actually condescending and neglectful to the eyes of millions on the internet.
Phil Mackenzie made a video claiming his wife ‘deserves’ time to herself to work out.
The caption to the video read “Our super mom,” referring to the four children under five years old that they share together.
What struck a nerve and rubbed people the wrong way, however, wasn’t the caption for the video but the text inlaid with the recording of her working out in their living room.
“Today I walked in on my wife working out while our newborn napped. Our house was a disaster,” he wrote. “Dishes needed to be cleaned. Laundry needed to be done. And a million other things she felt she had to do. Yet I could not be more proud.”
Mackenzie stood behind her as he recorded her working out, making sure to capture the mess around the house that was very clearly caused by their four children.
“She instead decided to take just a little time to herself that she deserved 10 times over. Always remember that YOU DESERVE time to yourself,” he continued.
“The mess and chores can always wait, but your mental health should never be sacrificed.”
Although he might’ve thought this was a good, teachable moment for those who might be struggling to balance their lives with a workout schedule, it immediately backfired.
Social media users criticized him for not helping his wife with chores around the house.
On TikTok, where the video received nearly 4 million views at the time of writing, people let him have it.
“Husbands will do everything but the household chores,” the top comment read.
Another husband chimed in, saying “This happened to me, walked in on my wife when I came from work. I didn't record her, I went ahead and did the dishes, laundry, etc.”
Some simply displayed their shock, asking if this was satirical or if this man truly thought it would be a good idea to post this.
On Twitter, a screengrab of the video was posted alongside the caption “I swear to god I will never marry a man.”
“He's only praising her because she's working out,” read one of the top replies. “If he walked in on her with a bucket of KFC binge-watching Bridgerton there would be no praise for ‘Me Time.’”
Many others added that he may have thought that he would receive applause for supporting his wife, but would be shocked to see that he was receiving so many nasty comments.
Fortunately, all signs point to Mackenzie’s video being a joke.
Well, the mess likely isn’t a joke, but everything else about it seems to be some kind of marketing strategy or ad.
The second part of Mackenzie’s caption promotes his “beginners Lean Reset Challenge,” and the video that his wife, Brodie Mackenzie, seems to be working out to is actually one of his own and is the featured video on their LEANSQUAD YouTube page.
A quick look at the rest of the videos posted to their various social media accounts shows that they often post quirky, joking videos like this, and this specific video may have just been a ploy in order to get people to see what’s going on with their brand.
If you don’t read too deeply into the text inside the video, you can see that he’s trying to reach people who might feel like they have a million things to do and therefore don’t have time to work out — it wasn’t supposed to be a commentary into their actual relationship.
As he writes on his website, after retiring from professional rugby and nearing the birth of his first-born son, “I made it my mission to help ANYONE and EVERYONE get fit in a realistic and sustainable way.”
Just, maybe next time, he’ll do some chores first before making his next promo video.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.