I notice these envelopes with vintage razors that have the Gillette Corporate address preprinted, and also say "Use This Envelope to Return Used Blades, place stamp on other side". Were the older blades returned for sharpening, and then returned to the customer? I thought these were disposable from the get go? Or was Gillette smart enough to be "green" and recycle steel way back then?
Was Gillette Green back in the day?
- Thread starter Blondie
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Don't quote me on this, but I think I remember a post here about this topic. I seem to recall Gillette taking some heat over this, simply resharpening the blades and reselling them as new instead of recycling the steel.
Is that the way it went, or am I imagining things?
Is that the way it went, or am I imagining things?
I've seen an old Gillette ad where I think you sent in your old blades and got a discount on some new ones, or something to that effect.
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yep
6 new blades for 12 used blades:
Simply amazing. I would not have guessed they could/would do that. How did that not impact the quality of the shave, not to mention the sanitary aspects. Or did they simply want the metal back so it could be remelted and formed into new blades?
As a practical matter, from a "green" perspective the energy and packaging materials required to transport a dozen or so razor blades (maybe 2 grams of metal) cross country greatly exceeds any savings resulting from reusing the metal. The old "burn 10 gallons of fuel to save one beer can from a land fill" issue that comes up so often these days.
The only material value of the used blades to Gillette could have been the fact that they were "near net shape" and only needed refinishing, not the scrap value of the steel. Alternatively, it was a way of marketing and maintaining brand loyalty and the used blades were simply thrown in the melter or possibly the dumpster.
The only material value of the used blades to Gillette could have been the fact that they were "near net shape" and only needed refinishing, not the scrap value of the steel. Alternatively, it was a way of marketing and maintaining brand loyalty and the used blades were simply thrown in the melter or possibly the dumpster.
The second scenario. Offering you six new ones for 12 used ones keeps you buying genuine Gillette blades. You still need another 6 new ones to keep the cycle going, and why wouldn't you buy another 6 new ones when they gave you the first six for free
.Shave for only a dollar a week!
The second scenario. Offering you six new ones for 12 used ones keeps you buying genuine Gillette blades. You still need another 6 new ones to keep the cycle going, and why wouldn't you buy another 6 new ones when they gave you the first six for free
Shave for only a dollar a week!
You nailed it.
Gillette didn't make their own steel, they bought coils of the ribbon steel from Sweden. Most of the DE blade producer still follow this practice, except for the producers in the Far East.
- Thread starter
- #11
Thanks for all the answers. It makes sense as a brand loyalty campaign.
