Gillette takes a swipe at traditional wet shavers?
- Thread starter onethinline
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I think Gillette is fighting a downhill battle here. But they should be happy, since Gillette safety razors are still better than most modern ones today.
I remember a couple years ago when they advertized the Fusion. I saw a TV commercial where they said "it's much better than the M3". Or something like that. Pretty funny Gillette tells her customers "we have been fooling you with our old products, here are the newer ones they're better!".
Ah I don't care. Those people who look down on traditional shaving they don't know what they're missing. I have 400 blades which will last me for 7 or 8 years. I spend like 55USD? 200 Astra SP's and 200 Permasharps.
Proraso products are cheap and they last for a long time. Beside the quality of a DE shave is way better than a modern cart shave.
Beside the M3 performed way better than the Fusion. Still nothing beats traditional shaving, 1 blade beats 5 blades already!
Ah I don't care. Those people who look down on traditional shaving they don't know what they're missing. I have 400 blades which will last me for 7 or 8 years. I spend like 55USD? 200 Astra SP's and 200 Permasharps.
Proraso products are cheap and they last for a long time. Beside the quality of a DE shave is way better than a modern cart shave.
Beside the M3 performed way better than the Fusion. Still nothing beats traditional shaving, 1 blade beats 5 blades already!
I don't know if a DE is better than a cartridge for the average person. I personally have not tried those cartridges, so it's hard for me to argue. But they must deliver a good shave for most men, otherwise more would go looking for an alternative, right?
Marketing only goes so far when your product is lacking.
+1 Like it or not on B&B, Gillette serves the broader market. Most men value convenience over a close shave. And they also value being part of the herd. Cartridges do all of that. They make it easy to have a one pass acceptable shave. They make it easier to shave quickly and without thought or skill. The lack of an expensive handle means that people don't have to take care of their tools like family heirlooms. The only way for DE to become a dominant mass market phenomenon is for someone to invent a DE that shaves just as quickly and easily, without causing nicks or cuts, and that is not expensive. And it needs to earn enough for the big companies to make it worth their while to market the products and to keep the quality consistent.
I've always said, if all men were willing to spend $50 on a razor and be prepared to spend $2 a week on DE blades, that Gillette would deliver safety razor products that would dwarf the quality of their best Spoilers or Platinum Plus blades. Unfortunately, we won't spend that kind of money and so they won't deliver either. I thank the heavens that the underdeveloped world is big enough to justify pushing out cheap, high quality blades like the 7 O'Clocks and GSBs and Polsilvers.
Besides ... carts do provide close shaves. The problem is that most men know nothing about what a good prep is. In fact they're not even aware that you need to ''prepare'' your skin and whiskers.
I can get pretty decent shaves with carts. I used one several months ago and it was a great shave. FWIW, YMMV, etc ...
Obviously, I also used a brush and soap.
I can get pretty decent shaves with carts. I used one several months ago and it was a great shave. FWIW, YMMV, etc ...
Obviously, I also used a brush and soap.
A DE is better, the shaves I get I could dream about them. I remember my first DE experience. 34C HD, Derby blade, TOBS Jermyn Street. I was blewn away by the results even while I lacked a lot of experience and skills. I managed to get BBS on my cheeks.
Gillette forces all their new products on people. Most men are not aware of DE shaving so they buy whats available.
One Fusion cart used to last for 3 shaves on my face. And the shaves used to be very bad. I had a lot of ingrown hairs, irritation, redness etc. I'm glad I found out about DE shaving. You'll buy 100 Astra's for 8USD, they should last you like 2 years.
To be honest I never knew there where so many DE shavers. I thought it would be something the entire world has forgotten about it and then I discovered this forum
To me, shaving now is what coffee was in the 80s.
You bought coffee that was cheap and easy to make from a brand like Folgers or Maxwell House. Often it involved something called "flavor crystals." The customer valued convenience over taste or presentation. As a result American coffee was famous for being terrible. Same for American bread, etc. The only way an American ever encountered a good cup of coffee was on vacation in Europe -- and he hated it. He was happy with Folgers crystals.
And then he wasn't. Suddenly, the entire market changed. American tastes changed radically. Americans embraced coffee that was strong, dark, laborious to prepare, and expensive. People who would have laughed at anyone who paid more than 50 cents for coffee now stood in line waiting to pay for coffee that cost 8X as much.
I don't even know if it's possible to buy Folgers crystals anymore.
What happened? Americans embraced the old-fashioned approach to coffee that Europeans had never abandoned. In fact they embraced it so aggressively that they turned around and started selling it to the Europeans.
Shaving is coffee. The people who lovingly lather MdC are the same ones who rhapsodize about the crema from their espresso machines. It's the same thing.
Would Americans ever embrace wet shaving? I think it could happen in a heartbeat, the same way coffee changed in the 1990s. Overnight, and completely.
You bought coffee that was cheap and easy to make from a brand like Folgers or Maxwell House. Often it involved something called "flavor crystals." The customer valued convenience over taste or presentation. As a result American coffee was famous for being terrible. Same for American bread, etc. The only way an American ever encountered a good cup of coffee was on vacation in Europe -- and he hated it. He was happy with Folgers crystals.
And then he wasn't. Suddenly, the entire market changed. American tastes changed radically. Americans embraced coffee that was strong, dark, laborious to prepare, and expensive. People who would have laughed at anyone who paid more than 50 cents for coffee now stood in line waiting to pay for coffee that cost 8X as much.
I don't even know if it's possible to buy Folgers crystals anymore.
What happened? Americans embraced the old-fashioned approach to coffee that Europeans had never abandoned. In fact they embraced it so aggressively that they turned around and started selling it to the Europeans.
Shaving is coffee. The people who lovingly lather MdC are the same ones who rhapsodize about the crema from their espresso machines. It's the same thing.
Would Americans ever embrace wet shaving? I think it could happen in a heartbeat, the same way coffee changed in the 1990s. Overnight, and completely.
Gillette makes no money selling double edge safety blades...those cartridge razors at $30 a month in blades is good business. Methinks their greed is speaking here.
Actually, they make money selling double edge razor blades from Astra and many other companies--as they own them. It's quite surprising because Gillette makes one of the best double edge razor blades.
I totally agree with this statement. Cartridges CAN and WILL give good shaves for many men....
Years ago I used an Atra razor and got wonderful shaves from it. Later on Schick Slim Twin disposables were my gear and I got equally
great shaves...
I could probably do the same with a Mach 3 or a Fusion, but I will not pay those ridiculously high prices for the refills.
It is really all up to ones personal choice.....
the DE route is more fun for me....
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I started with a trac II, went to a mach 3, then went back and forth between fusion/fusion power and quattro, then ultimately back to mach 3. I am new to wet shaving so the mach 3 has a place on my counter for the near future. As far as upgrading, that's a negative.
What I wonder is; why did you move *from* the Trac II?
New and improved generally means new.
Unfortunately it is for a large part a disposable society, for that reason (and being convenient to buy, effortless to use) people will not look for an alternative. Even if they are getting mediocre shaves.
It is a race to the bottom of the barrel.
I fear that you're right; an enjoyable shave is probably not important to most people.
So you're saying on both revenue and profit they make more $ selling DE Razor blades for pennies a piece?
Wise words... I cannot explain better.
P&G marketing at their finest has run ads that tout their product and bash a competitor's product when they actually own both. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an AoS commercial showing a guy tossing a spanking new vibrating Gillette razor. And have them both run simultaneously.
Comparing this ad to this ad pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Gillette's willingness to smear the reputation of their old models, if doing so will help them sell a newer one. In the first one, which was made for the UK market, famous athletes poke fun at people using a Mach 3, cajoling them into upgrading to the Fusion. The message: only losers use the old stuff; winners get with the times.
The second ad was run in India. It featured the same athletes hawking the Mach 3 Turbo Winner, while a singer in the background sings, "The world is mine." The message: winners use the Mach 3; you can be one too, if you buy the product.
What's really smarmy is that these two ads were run at roughly the same time, on different sides of the globe. In India, where Fusions are beyond reach for most consumers, the Mach 3 was promoted as the razor to get if you want to show your status. In the West, where people can afford the latest and greatest, only the Fusion will do. I don't suppose we should be surprised that marketers will say what is needed to sell a product in a given market, but Gillette's willingness to talk out of both sides of its mouth is still astounding.
The second ad was run in India. It featured the same athletes hawking the Mach 3 Turbo Winner, while a singer in the background sings, "The world is mine." The message: winners use the Mach 3; you can be one too, if you buy the product.
What's really smarmy is that these two ads were run at roughly the same time, on different sides of the globe. In India, where Fusions are beyond reach for most consumers, the Mach 3 was promoted as the razor to get if you want to show your status. In the West, where people can afford the latest and greatest, only the Fusion will do. I don't suppose we should be surprised that marketers will say what is needed to sell a product in a given market, but Gillette's willingness to talk out of both sides of its mouth is still astounding.
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