Gillette’s marketing department, apparently under massive pressure to find new ways to separate the men of America from their hard-earned dollars, has come out with a new shaving gimmick. It appears to be a razor with a battery-powered rotor or vibrator (heh), that sends “micro pulses” through the blades. To my jaded eye, it looks almost laughably desperate, as if they had actually put a little label on the package that said “You’re not spending enough money on your shaving equipment! Buy this shiny gadget! It uses batteries!” But then, I’m still using the old Sensor trac II technology (and buying generic blades, at that.)
"The micro-pulses seemed to make the shave closer."
“More than anything, the micro-pulses made the shave more pleasurable”
Say what? They get a focus group of (probably) hundreds of guys using their newest gadget and the best that any of them had to say was “I knew it was safe to use”? Boy howdy, if that isn’t a phrase a marketing exec lives to hear.
So, am I just a Luddite, or is this thing gonna make a big sucking sound as Gillette yanks it from the market in a few months? Anyone try one of these things?
Did you mean to post this in the pit? Because I would have. It makes me sick when companies come up with some gimicky crap to con people out of their cash. (take the wilkinson razor with 4 blades. and that FUCKING annoying advert where one guy mocks another guy who used a rival razor who hasn’t got the girl fondling his face by holding 4 fingers up)
What makes me even more sick is that people fall for it!!
Well, I wouldn’t say that it’s some kind of revolution in the world of shaving, since the basics of shaving (run blade across face to remove hair) have basically been the same for a while. I’m a long-time Mach 3 user, and decided to pick one of these up at Costco since it wasn’t all that expensive ($20 for the razor plus a four-pack of cartridiges - I think the razor itself normally sells for $20).
The shave does seem to be somewhat smoother, and I haven’t cut myself yet, even shaving in spots (base of the mustache area in my dimples, Adam’s apple) that usually get one cut from a fresh razor. I don’t have to do quite as much “touch-up” shaving after the initial stroke, but the promises that you don’t have to do any are wildly exaggerated. Admittedly, we’re only dealing with a sample of a week.
Assuming the no cutting thing holds up, I’ll probably stick with it, assuming the product is still around. It can be used with regular Mach 3 heads, which clearly aren’t going away anytime soon, so the giant sucking sound will probably be for the handle itself. If your old Sensor Trac II works for you - great. I used to travel with disposable Bic razors, and I hated the shave they gave me, but I like the Mach 3.
It’s not a ringing endorsement, and other people’s mileage may definitely vary. But shaving styles and preferences are individual and, other than “don’t speed shave,” aren’t really something that others should criticize.
Ya know…20 some years ago, Saturday Night Live did a fake ad for a razor with three (!) blades, and a tag line…“because you’ll believe anything”. But even they didn’t see the micro pulse.
I didn’t choose the title of this thread by accident. Although I’m reasonably sure that the tag line was “because you’ll buy anything.” Could be wrong though – as you pointed out, it was 20+ years ago.
That’s what I remember the tag line being. And I was amazed when the triple razors came out, because I thought surely people would remember and laugh themselves sick.
FWIW I had a razor handle many years ago that contained a AA battery and a small vibrating motor. IIRC it held a trac 2 razor blade.
It did improve my shave, but the unit was a piece of junk and let water inside so it died in a couple of months.
Having a beard that is as tough as barbed wire, I may give this new Mach 3 a try.
You know, you can criticize all you want. But the Gillette corporation isn’t solely a marketing arm. They put some research and care into their products.
I haven’t found anything that shaves me closer than a Mach 3 razor. And I have a pretty tough beard. Shick, Wilkinson, any electric product - nothing works as well.
YMMV, as in all things. But I’ll probably give their new product a try. This company has earned my loyalty by making a superior product for decades.
Wait, you’re saying the woman fondled the face of the guy that used four blades? I may have to look into getting me one of those. :smack: ← Lobsang
(BTW, this is my 1000th post, and although the five years it took me to reach this milestone have seen post parties criminalized, I would still like to commemorate the event with a quick, “Yay me!”)
Even before that, there was a wind-up razor! The head was a standard “safety razor,” with the old 2-sided drop-in blade. The handle was about the diameter of a bratwurst, and it would buzz the blade for a few minutes, long enough to shave.
I believe it was about the time of the Techmatic® blade cartridge, which had 5 blades’ worth of razor steel in a reel. You’d use a lever to wind to a fresh blade, just like the advance on a cheap camera. It was a very good system, and I used one for several years.
The Onion had a great story about 6 weeks ago. After Schick anounced their 4 blade model, they had the president of Gillete say “Fuck it, we’re going to 5 blades!”
You know, I like to believe that I’m not a sucker. I’m a firm believer in those old sayings Caveat emptor* and “A fool and his money are easily parted.”
But, I do a lot of shaving. I shave my face. I shave my head. Lots and lots of shaving. I’ve sampled many razors over the years, for both face and head purposes, from the single-bladed disposables to the triple-bladed models, to fancy electric models.
When all is said and done, I have two razors: A gillette sensor for shaving my face, and a gillette mach 3 for shaving my head. Sure, I can do both jobs with a disposable, but heck I can afford razor blades, and it’s more important to me that I don’t have razor burn than save a few bucks on blades.
A tangent:
[Blue Suede Shoes tune]
Well, it’s one for the money
two for the shave,
three for the comfort of three blades
[/]
Has anyone else seen this stupid ad for Bic disposables?
I’ll admit to thinking that MAch3 was stupid when it came out, but I switched and it does give me a better shave. Is Shick still around? Not in this country.