Razor Wars
I’m a sucker for a good marketing campaign. When Gillette introduced the Sensor for men in 1990, I bought both the product and the marketing. Its two blades were spring mounted for extra manueuverability, and the handle had sticky grips for better traction in the shower. In 1992, Gillette introduced the Sensor for Women, and I happily plunked down the additional cash. The Sensor for women featured a unique, wide ovoid handle that was easy to use. In 1993, I began to get suspicious, as the Sensor Excel for men was introduced; 5 microfins were added to the two blades for a closer shave. Was Gillette mastering planned obsolescence, introducing a new variation on the product every few years, offering the men’s first because women would buy it too? They gave credence to my theory when they rolled out the Sensor Excel for women in 1996, then the Mach 3 for men in 1998 followed by the 3-bladed Venus for women in 2001. Since then they have added the Mach 3 Turbo, and the M3Power for men, and the Venus Divine for women.
With each introduction, the features, not just of the blade but of the handle, are enhanced. Gillette has been careful that more than the appearance of the handle is changing. Yes, their marketing still trumpets silly-sounding features like “single-point docking,” but the blades, their mounting, and the handles have been evolving continuously. Gillette has also been careful in their intervals. By waiting a few years, rather than a few months, they ensure a long period in which people can adopt their product, rather than waiting a few months to see if the next one will come out, like the special editions of some DVDs.
As each razor was introduced, I became a more reluctant consumer, wondering if the additional blades and features really were resulting in a closer shave. The costs mounted with the new models; the Venus refills cost almost $2 apiece! I did not purchase any Mach 3 or Venus variations. After I used my last Venus refill, I put my skepticism to the test. When warm weather finally came to my upper midwest state, I looked for the simplest, cheapest disposable there was, and found that I could get 14 (!) Bic Silky Touch disposables for about $2–a little more than the cost of one Venus refill. The Silky Touch had 2 blades, a non-pivoting head, no lubricating strip and a colorful plastic handle. These’ll be fine, I thought, angry at having been duped by Gillette for so many years.
My next shave was not a pleasant one. I had to use a lot of shaving cream, the razor kept slipping out of my hand, and I got both cuts and burns. It turns out that some of those Gillette features are useful and contribute to a better shave.
What to do now, then? Keep trying inexpensive disposables? Buy a new set of Venus refills? Pick up the newest offering on the market from Gillette arch-rival Schick, the Quattro for women, with four blades? (Gillette attempted to sue Schick over patent infringement when the Quattro debuted. They were denied.) Before I started writing this entry, I thought the Quattro was the newest offering from Gillette, probably annoyed because Schick interrupted their product introduction interval by offering the Quattro before whatever will be the Gillette men’s 4.0, which is sure to be followed in 2 to 3 years by the women’s.
I am certain that there is some balance in razor-land between super-expensive four-blade-plus-the-kitchen-sink refillables and super-cheap, two-blade disposables. I’ll let you know when I find it.
April 14th, 2005 at 10:30 pm
This is a timely post for me, because my trusty ol’ razor broke recently and I was left with $292.27 cents worth of refills with no place to go. They don’t make the razor anymore. I briefly considered an electric razor before buying the cheapest model of plastic to tide me over. Is there some reason women can’t use electric? It’s not really marketed to us, although I do remember a “Lady Schick” or some such thing years ago…
April 15th, 2005 at 4:47 am
As Thurston has a jar filled with old razors, both due to upgrading and due to being often unprepared on business trips, I think of this razor thing often. The Venus’ only benefit to me is the flash-bang with which one can shave without injury; I find it’s shave not nearly so effective as the good old Daisy disposable. One has to pay attention with a disposable, but the shave is close and lasting.
April 15th, 2005 at 10:55 am
It’s totally Scylla and Charibdys when it comes to shaving, and this is one of the areas where I believe the genders get to enjoy a good mutual complaint-fest. I have a moderately rough beard, plus sensitive (even pathologic, I guess, thanks to occasional psoriasis flares) skin. I’d sooner stay scruffy for a day, even a day at work, than attempt a shave with a disposable — yet shelling out for the Mach3 refills is a special sort of irritation in itself.
My attitude toward this issue is similar to my attitude toward mobile phones, computers, and video games: I adopt whatever technology is a generation or two old, and enjoy it as though it were new. I wait for the next new thing to become the old new thing, and thus the manufacturer’s target market become my beta-testers. This approach has saved me from countless software viruses and buyer’s-remorse-induced headaches.
For a guy’s-guy take on the subject of shaving, see below. Dack from dack.com is convinced, like a boozing, golf-obsessed Goldilocks, that three blades is just right. Scroll down to March 17, for Dack.com’s review of the Mach3 Turbo for guys. Stay for the link to the Onion story (ostensibly an interview with a Gillette executive) entitled “F**k Everything, We’re Doing Five Blades.”
http://www.dack.com/archive/2005q1.html
April 16th, 2005 at 8:37 am
I personally think that there is going to be a paradyne shift in shaving during this next decade. Companies are coming out with Cryo-ed (tempered) blades that last longer and new technologies that extend the life of the blades and provide a better shave. These technologies still use the Gillette and Schick high quality blades but a single blade can last 3-4 months.
I shave my head and blow through the blades (1 blade per week) and I bought a product call Razormax that claims to extend blade life. I found through experience that it does and this has saved me some serious money on blades. I was very sceptical but had a friend that swears by it and got me to try it. Do a search on Razormax or try http://www.razormax.com and you should be able to find a site that sells it. - Steve Thompson
April 18th, 2005 at 9:22 am
Sensor lived up to the hype, an amazing razor that significantly lightened my perma-shadow. I recall once reading an interview with a snooty old London barber who still did the old shave-and-a-haircut and the interviewer doing a double-take (yes, you could tell in the interview) when the barber revealed that instead of using an old-fashioned stropped straight blade, as the interviewer had assumed, he used a Gillette Sensor razor on his customers.
This weekend I gave the new battery-powered vibrating razor a try and, like each of the post-Sensor versions, it is better, but only by a bit, an iteration instead of a revolution.
It’s a nice piece of demand-creating cross-marketing, though, for Gillette owns Duracell.
April 20th, 2005 at 3:12 pm
I wonder if battery-operated razors do better in the men’s market than in the women’s, and if so, if it’s because women shave more often in running water? I know they make them waterproof, but batteries plus water makes me nervous, and reminds me of the opening of a Six Feet Under episode.
April 22nd, 2005 at 3:05 pm
Some collected data: I shaved one side with the Bic plain 2-blade Silky Touch and the other with the Venus refill, which I broke down and bought. I had one cut and one burn on the Bic side, but it was a closer shave than the Venus.