I'd like to see the muppet who came up with this BS if he can read it out loud with a straight face. But, unfortunately, they might
Let's talk Gillette
- Thread starter Jack Goossen
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #22
Now the beard gear makes sense.It's a product line to master your (beard) style.
Gillette UK
King C. Gillette ► men's shaving and grooming products will help you trim, style and care for your facial hair ✓ Master your Style now with King C. Gillette!www.gillette.co.uk
The KCG razor intended use is to style your beard, not shave completely:
'The King C. Gillette Double Edge Safety Razor is the perfect choice for men who appreciate a touch of heritage, but want to create a modern, sharp look; that’s why we’ve brought it back - the growing trend for statement beards has seen increased demand for double edge safety razors, with many men turning to them for their simplicity and relevance.'
King C. Gillette Double Edge Safety Razor
Buy King C. Gillette Double Edge Safety Razor from Gillette.www.gillette.co.uk
Still: if they didn't target (potential) DE shavers, the could have made one of those narrow headed razors, right?
Flint and obsidian are capable of taking sharper edges than steel. Unfortunately, the flint razor factory fired all their workers for knapping on the job.
Absolutely. But for a narrow headed razors they would have needed tailored made blades and I guess that they will never declare that DE shaving is great...given that all their knowledge now is on cartridge + foam...
Unfortunately, most of my favorite DE blades (Nacet, Perma-Sharp, Wizamet/Polsilver SI to name a few) are made by Gillette and there's just no way for me to abandon them just like that and look for anything else, especially since nothing else i've used so far comes even close to the quality and price. Anything else modern made by Gillette is a big no-no for me. Vintage Gillette razors are ok though.
- Thread starter
- #26
Still: it is remarkable how deep the resentment among us against Gillette is felt by many.
Let's dive deeper in that phenomenon.
Is it a feeling of betrayal?
Disliking big companies?
I stopped being willing to deal with Gillette after that advertising campaign, but it wasn't politics or disagreement. As you say, it would be hard, and probably unwise, to boycott every company not aligned with your values.
The thing that sapped my willingness to ever deal with Gillette again was this: they completely misunderstood the nature of our relationship, the relationship between the buyer and the company that wants to sell something to the buyer, and in an insulting, pedantic, presumptuous way.
Gillette before: Our razors are the best a man can get. Buy the best. Buy Gillette.
Gillette after: What we really meant by our slogan, or at least what we mean now, is: Really, potential customer man? Are you the best you can get? We, the company that wants to sell you a razor, really doubt that. You need to shape up if you want our approval.
Nope. Not going meekly take that crap. I'm out.
That sums it up very well, it’s just a business. If you don’t like the company and/or their product then don’t buy anything from them, it’s really that simple. Beating the same old dead horse over and over isn’t going to change anything.
There is no Gillette there is P&G since 2005.
So all the fuzz about marketing, pricing and development of cartridges belongs to a discussion about multinational multibrand stock listed corporations battling for market shares worldwide.
So all the fuzz about marketing, pricing and development of cartridges belongs to a discussion about multinational multibrand stock listed corporations battling for market shares worldwide.
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- Thread starter
- #30
And your stance is understandable and deserves appreciation.
It depends how you look at things. Life is more compliacted than everyone of us can imagine and seeing things as black and white, good and bad, right and wrong isn't much different than arguing which blade or razor is the best. It depends on the point of view as well as our understanding of things. Of course, not everyone is seeking the facts over the truth, some folks are doing the opposite
.
I agree, in that a manufacturer should focus on extolling the virtue of their product, rather than focusing on the virtue of the customer. I can't imagine Ford preaching to me about how to be a better man while trying to sell me a new F150. It just completely missed the mark.
The best THIS man can get is to spend as little as possible on their product. I'll still buy P&G DE blades, and vintage razors I find in resale shops (which originally sold for under a buck) but do my best to avoid the rest.
I am stealing "conflicting, poorly-formed views on the whole ball of wax" for future use.
Thank you, @desrgrl
P&G makes some great blades: I will buy more (if I ever need to restock, which seems unlikely).
As for Gillette as a brand? I still have an attraction to the romance of the 1960's - my father shaved with a Slim for a long time, and that is a deeply rooted association for me. Plus I love my 64 Slim. Do I feel any sense of loyalty to the modern incarnation? Nope.
As for Gillette as a brand? I still have an attraction to the romance of the 1960's - my father shaved with a Slim for a long time, and that is a deeply rooted association for me. Plus I love my 64 Slim. Do I feel any sense of loyalty to the modern incarnation? Nope.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I moved to double edged shaving in the early 90's, and the pollution aspect wasn't on my radar. Cartridges were expensive, and barely lasted me a week, even shaving every other day. Double edge blades (Wilkinson Sword Classic being the only option on the peg at the time) were very significantly cheaper. I figured it was worth a try, and found that they also lasted far longer, and gave me a vastly superior shave too. There was no going back... well, except for the occasional blade drought, or using a Christmas present razor until it ran our of carts.
I have used two older Gillette razors, and neither shaved me as well or as comfortably as my Edwin Jagger DE3D14. The only other Gillette products I have bought in the last three decades, are around 100 double edged blades.
So, I can live without Gillette products quite happily. However, I do seem to have much less problem cutting out unwanted life elements than others might. No wife/partner, kids or pets. No Amazon or Google account. No Television. No social media. Easy job.
I have used two older Gillette razors, and neither shaved me as well or as comfortably as my Edwin Jagger DE3D14. The only other Gillette products I have bought in the last three decades, are around 100 double edged blades.
So, I can live without Gillette products quite happily. However, I do seem to have much less problem cutting out unwanted life elements than others might. No wife/partner, kids or pets. No Amazon or Google account. No Television. No social media. Easy job.
TL;DR - girl stuff is slightly different, but mostly the same take on going DE. Big business bad. Can't do much anyway.
Coming from a somewhat different angle on all this...
Multi-national Corporations have pretty much always been evil. In fact corporations were always pretty sketchy, but when a large number of laws went through, including that a corporation could be treated as a 'person' under the law, it got a whole lot worse. Whatever safeguards were there pretty much got torpedoed and businesses ran amok.
We live in late stage capitalism, its only got worse.
So, Gillette is what it is, like any other business of that size, for whatever product you want to name. Marketing of any company hones in on what fits for them, high prices for niche markets, low prices but low quality (usually) for mass produced, and some tweaking based on what competitors are doing.
I got into DESR for many of the same reasons. I started with Daisy razors because when you went to the 'girl' section, that was the main thing there, but I always felt bad throwing out the whole razor. I tried a Flicker once, hideous thing, got more nicks with this 'safety' razor then anything else. (for writing this, looked up to see who produced it, lo and behold Personna). So, when cartridges came along, I started using them. A Sensor, and then a Sensor Excel... and many years later was annoyed that it was hard to get razors, and toyed with the idea of three blades, but they were horribly expensive. So, with the move to four razors, and me still stocking up on Excels when I can find them, I decided to give DESR a try. I'd seen a few DE razors in the shaving section, and there was a bit of nostalgia from seeing my dad and brothers shave, and I liked the enviromental angle, because besides getting more and more blades, the cartridge movement was big on bizarre handles with gimmicks and lots of added plastic and rubber, and it was just silly.
I sort of saved money, and didn't. I got into *collecting* and that put me out a fair bit, however, when I gave up my collection, it was to the Saint Sue charity auction, so I don't count it as a loss financial for me, it was a donation. Since then I have stuck to two razors, and razor blades I pick up at the barber shop or drugstore, and a silver trip badger brush that is seven years old and still going strong. Poraso/Cremlo for soap, but I'm going to be picking up a new soap soon, probably a bit better, but not too expensive. So, now, I am definitely saving money. I usually give a couple of male friends cartridge blades for Christmas, and am always astounded at how much they cost. They go through spray can foam faster than I go through my soap. It might not make much of a difference as a 'protest' but I'm still happy to go with my vintage razor and blades. Will it make a world of difference? no. Do I have other areas in my life where I'm not careful of the enviroment? yes. But I still like the feeling when I slip an old blade into the safe, and take a new one out.
It's not wrong for a business to make money, or work demographics to their favour, but its a captive market...most men and women shave in North America, and many other parts of the world. When you have a captive market, you don't have to care about your customer, these companies may compete, but within their own world, they don't want to ruin the game for everyone.
We're a captive participants because it is almost impossible to escape. Short of a lifestyle of going 'back to the land', we have a society that has so strongly bought into fast/cheap/plastic/novelty that there isn't much else left. We're paying for it now, too.
Coming from a somewhat different angle on all this...
Multi-national Corporations have pretty much always been evil. In fact corporations were always pretty sketchy, but when a large number of laws went through, including that a corporation could be treated as a 'person' under the law, it got a whole lot worse. Whatever safeguards were there pretty much got torpedoed and businesses ran amok.
We live in late stage capitalism, its only got worse.
So, Gillette is what it is, like any other business of that size, for whatever product you want to name. Marketing of any company hones in on what fits for them, high prices for niche markets, low prices but low quality (usually) for mass produced, and some tweaking based on what competitors are doing.
I got into DESR for many of the same reasons. I started with Daisy razors because when you went to the 'girl' section, that was the main thing there, but I always felt bad throwing out the whole razor. I tried a Flicker once, hideous thing, got more nicks with this 'safety' razor then anything else. (for writing this, looked up to see who produced it, lo and behold Personna). So, when cartridges came along, I started using them. A Sensor, and then a Sensor Excel... and many years later was annoyed that it was hard to get razors, and toyed with the idea of three blades, but they were horribly expensive. So, with the move to four razors, and me still stocking up on Excels when I can find them, I decided to give DESR a try. I'd seen a few DE razors in the shaving section, and there was a bit of nostalgia from seeing my dad and brothers shave, and I liked the enviromental angle, because besides getting more and more blades, the cartridge movement was big on bizarre handles with gimmicks and lots of added plastic and rubber, and it was just silly.
I sort of saved money, and didn't. I got into *collecting* and that put me out a fair bit, however, when I gave up my collection, it was to the Saint Sue charity auction, so I don't count it as a loss financial for me, it was a donation. Since then I have stuck to two razors, and razor blades I pick up at the barber shop or drugstore, and a silver trip badger brush that is seven years old and still going strong. Poraso/Cremlo for soap, but I'm going to be picking up a new soap soon, probably a bit better, but not too expensive. So, now, I am definitely saving money. I usually give a couple of male friends cartridge blades for Christmas, and am always astounded at how much they cost. They go through spray can foam faster than I go through my soap. It might not make much of a difference as a 'protest' but I'm still happy to go with my vintage razor and blades. Will it make a world of difference? no. Do I have other areas in my life where I'm not careful of the enviroment? yes. But I still like the feeling when I slip an old blade into the safe, and take a new one out.
It's not wrong for a business to make money, or work demographics to their favour, but its a captive market...most men and women shave in North America, and many other parts of the world. When you have a captive market, you don't have to care about your customer, these companies may compete, but within their own world, they don't want to ruin the game for everyone.
We're a captive participants because it is almost impossible to escape. Short of a lifestyle of going 'back to the land', we have a society that has so strongly bought into fast/cheap/plastic/novelty that there isn't much else left. We're paying for it now, too.
It was a stone cold decision, but they had to do it, the workers were taking them for granite.
I could pun all day, but I shouldn't, so I'll stop talcing about it.
Off the cuff, it is usually the biggest dog that gets the attention, but its big companies and insane product push overall, imho. All of the big companies are doing the same thing, its just Gillette is the big name. I suppose maybe some betrayal, in the sense that at one point in time (and still to us vintage folk) Gillette was sort of a stand out company, with quality, and were somewhat revolutionary. That said, they were doing big business and marketing then too.
Thank you. I got talking about big business, and kept saying 'Gillette' but of course, you are right, it makes more sense to go with the top level. I don't know about P&G, but in many products, the parent company owns a number of the same products, has false competition, and markets each brand to a specific demographic.
