Schick Injectors and Market Share

[jruschme]

I was looking at some Eversharp Schick ads from 1946 and a recurring slogan caught my attention:

"The razor demanded by 7 out of every 10 men in service!"​

I'm curious about a few things. First, by "in service" did they mean soldiers in the then-recent war? Second, if Schick Injector razors represented 70% of any kind of market then why weren't they more of a dominant force in the overall shaving industry? It seems like that should have easily put Gillette on the ropes.

Obviously, I'm missing something but I'm not sure what.

 

[xxvaleria]

At one time, Schick was the second most popular razor, after Gillette. I think I remember reading that they had about 30% of the market share. I used injectors in my early years in the service, but I don't remember paying much attention to what the other guys used. I guess that cartridge razors just drove the injectors out of the market.

 

[Dave Deluxe]

Just remember back then, 9 out of 10 doctors preferred "Lucky Strikes".

 

[santamariasteve]

It's an interesting question and an astute observation.

I don't think we know what the ad writer was thinking when he said "service." I doubt he meant military, because in 1946 the U.S. military had largely emptied, compared to what it was several years earlier at the height of WW2.

And I can's explain why Schick largely has gone out of business. In some ways when I think of Schick, I think of the Chrysler Corporation in the automobile industry. The Chrysler Corporation made well engineered cars. Several decades ago they had Chrysler, Dodge, Desoto, and Plymouth. And now two of those companies are extinct, and the remaining two are a small fraction of what was.

 

[garyg]

It is an interesting question as to what the ad writer would say if they could be challenged. "Men in service" meaning servants, like the butlers who might be called upon to shave their employer? Or use of "service" just to wring the last possible commercial mileage out of WWII? The marketing types have never been fairly accused of being too enamored of the truth. Kind of like Twitter ..

I can't construct a significant population that bought Schick by that percentage, despite my own fondness for the injector razor.

 

[chukka]

i have a pack of 6 n.o.s. type G from a military surplus ,they adversited them as the vietnam razor .

 

[mc57]

Congrats.
You are a lucky guy chukka.
Yesterday I miss one in a flea market for minutes.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

It's an interesting question and an astute observation.

I don't think we know what the ad writer was thinking when he said "service." I doubt he meant military, because in 1946 the U.S. military had largely emptied, compared to what it was several years earlier at the height of WW2.

And I can's explain why Schick largely has gone out of business. In some ways when I think of Schick, I think of the Chrysler Corporation in the automobile industry. The Chrysler Corporation made well engineered cars. Several decades ago they had Chrysler, Dodge, Desoto, and Plymouth. And now two of those companies are extinct, and the remaining two are a small fraction of what was.

Schick is hardly "out of business". You don't see Schick cart razors in some countries because Edgewell sells them under their Wilkinson brand.

In 1946 the term "service" almost certainly meant military service. The term wouldn't have made sense to the target audience in any other context.

I started shaving in the early 70s and my first razor was a Schick injector. I stuck with the injector until carts took over. My college buddies tended to use injectors or electrics; DE shaving was already seen as shaving like Grandpa. When I returned to traditional shaving I naturally gravitated back to SE razors and rediscovered the injector. I used a I-2 Hydro-Magic this morning, excellent instrument.

 

[santamariasteve]

Salty, do you really believe "70%" of our soldiers in WW2 "demanded" Schick Injectors???

I can't quite wrap my brain around that concept, as much as I treasure the Schick injector Type E's.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

I think the claim is as valid as any other advertising statement of the period, which is to say no, I don't. I don't think Gillette, ASR, Durham-Enders, et al comprised only 30% of the razor market. It could be that PXs sold more Schick razors during a period in 1945 or 1946 because they were cheaper than the competition or more available due to their relatively low metal composition. I can certainly envision an astute Madison avenue type setting up a give-away program or survey that would result in a high percentage of respondents choosing his product.

 

[jruschme]

Salty, do you really believe "70%" of our soldiers in WW2 "demanded" Schick Injectors???

I can't quite wrap my brain around that concept, as much as I treasure the Schick injector Type E's.

Same here. I also find the use of the term "demanded" interesting. It brings to mind images of adamant GI's (or new inductees) squaring off against Supply Sergeants over available razors.

 

[jruschme]

I had a moment of clarity this morning and I think I've broken the code on this "7 out of 10" thing...

I read another Eversharp Schick ad from Christmas 1946 which had the same slogan except that "demanded" was replaced with the word "requested". For some reason, that put a different spin on it. I think the ad copywriter wanted the reader to thing that Schick Injectors were demanded/requested by 70% of servicemen. I suspect, though, that the correct interpretation is something more like:

"The razor requested by 7 out of 10 men in service who had a specific razor choice."

This actually makes a lot more sense. I assume the 30% of the non-default choice was probably split among razors such as Gem, AutoStrop, Enders, and maybe even some Straight Razors.

 

[santamariasteve]

What a difference a word (or two) can make!