I agree with you that Gillette is, indeed, now serving a different market. They have pretty clearly turned their backs on the DE market - ironically, the very market they were primarily responsible for establishing in the first place. That's their right to do so, just as it is my right to take my money elsewhere.
Personally, I won't buy their products. They've made it pretty clear which market they are more interested in serving, and I am simply no longer a part of that market. People who want to drag 5 blades across their faces with a layer of synthetic gel containing a list of ingredients they can't even pronounce (let alone identify) also have every right to do so. It's their faces and their wallets that will suffer. So be it. Live and let live.
But I do have a problem with the fact that Gillette is consciously attempting to steer the public into using products that have a greater environmental impact, contain ingredients that are known to be toxic, have a higher cost of use, deliver inferior results, and so on and so forth. The fact that some of their blades might be of good quality is irrelevant to me. If I give the company my money, I am supporting them in doing whatever it is they decide to do with that money. And right now, that includes ProGlide Challenge commercials.
Um, no thanks!
I hear what you're saying, so please don't get me wrong. Gillette does serve a different market now. You are absolutely right about that. (I may not agree with you about the quality of their blades being superior to Feather or Personna - but that's a purely subjective argument anyway.) The point is that they do enough other things that I greatly dislike that I can't feel good about giving them any of my money - and I won't. I'll put it in the hands of a company I feel is more aligned with my values - one dedicated to DE and wetshaving products and supporting the customers who use them.
But hey, that's just me.
