|
Reviews
|
Archives
January-February 2006
Big Response to Gillette Fusion Razor Story
My article (scroll down) on mainstream media (MSM) and blog reporting of
the new Gillette Fusion shaving system drew thousands of readers, thanks to
links from InstaPundit, Jane Galt, Pajamas Media and others.
Here's a link to another review, from
Off
Wing Opinion. He writes:
However, it was only a few weeks ago listening to Adam Curry's Daily
Source Code, that Curry read an email from one of his listeners claiming
that razor companies use a higher grade of steel in blades that ship with
the handle than the replacement blades. That's something I'll keep in mind
over the next few weeks and months.
I've got one other quibble with Gillette: As the surface area of blade
cartridges has increased, it's gotten tougher to get the blade into some
tight spots -- most notably above my lip. Thankfully, Gillette has included
a sixth blade for trimming on the reverse of the cartridge. It worked very
well at first, but seems to have dulled pretty quickly over the last 2-3
days.
So, a qualified thumbs up for the Fusion.
The point of my article was that newspapers were generally cynical about the
Fusion - often because of its five blades - while bloggers were objective in
their analysis. One reader emailed to complain that I'd neglected to mention
that one of the newspaper reviews - in the
Wilmington Advocate - actually ended up praising the shaver.
Yes, that's true, and I didn't mention this. But my point was that the
mainstream media were exceedingly cynical about the product (I used the
phrase "de rigueur cynicism"), and that was certainly the case in
Wilmington.
The
Transterrestrial Musings blog wrote:
So, they find three snarky mentions in the MSM, and then find three
"objective" and "serious" reviews in the blogosphere, and somehow conclude
that the MSM is frivolous, and the blogosphere serious and useful?
Sorry, not buying it--that's called "cherry picking the data." If they'd
done some kind of exhaustive research, with numbers (e.g., 85 MSM mentions,
12 serious reviews vs 320 blog reviews, with 231 of them serious), they
might have a case, but I'll bet I could could play their game by going and
finding three "serious" reviews in the papers, and three snark-filled
screeds from the blogs, and making exactly the opposite "case."
Which in fact is what critics of the blogosphere often do. Let's not lower
ourselves to their level.
I spent some quality Google time trying to locate as many reviews as
possible. I didn't find a lot. I'm certainly willing to stand corrected, but
for the time being I believe my interpretation of MSM and blogger reporting
is pretty accurate.
February 27th, 2006
Gillette Fusion Razor – The Mainstream Media Mocks;
Bloggers Give Objective Reviews
 Gillette’s
new Fusion shaving system – a razor with no fewer than five blades –
attracted de rigueur cynicism in much of the mainstream media. Here’s
Canada’s
Toronto Star:
Adding another blade
is "just coming up with gadgets to outdo the other guys," [marketing
strategist Pete Dodd] says. "But I think they've gone past the usefulness of
the razor." Gillette could add neon lights to it, he says, or a hand
massager to the handle. Perhaps it could be an adjunct to your Blackberry,
so you could receive email in the shower, he laughs. "To the buyer, it's not
really going to make any difference."
Continue
reading
Gillette Fusion Razor – The Mainstream Media Mocks; Bloggers Give Objective
Reviews
February 24th,
2006
The 50-Metre Shaving Foam Dash
The Olympics reporter for Britain's Daily Telegraph discovers
another Olympic sport - the 50-metre shaving foam dash.
February 21st, 2006
More Power to King Gillette
More
mainstream media cynicism about the Gillette Fusion razor, from a huge
article in the Wilmington Advocate, by the paper's media
correspondent:
Advertising and merchandising will make this new five-bladed razor
("system", sorry!) a very profitable line, just as the two-blade,
three-blade, and four-blade were in their time, I predict. More power to
King Gillette and his descendants. If you can make people spend
their-hard-earned money on this, perhaps you deserve to be rich.
It also illustrates one more axiom of media and advertising that we
too-seldom realize. It's a saying attributed to P.T. Barnum: "There's a
sucker born every minute."
Multiple-blade shaving systems rest on this simple concept, and for that
reason, they'll flourish.
And from the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram:
Once liberated from its plastic container -- really more of a razor
sarcophagus -- Fusion's futuristic design didn't exactly strike me as a feat
of engineering. And what exactly is the purpose of the aerodynamic Y cutout
in the middle of the razor's shaft? Perhaps it's there to cut down on
bathroom wind-drag as I shave across my great savannah of cheek.
...Setting up my seven-day thicket of beard with great dollops of Edge
shaving cream (Gillette also markets a special Fusion gel), I passed the
armada of Fusion blades over my thickened beard. Fusion's shifting head,
with its wider wheelbase and Elvis-like swivel, navigated over the San
Andreas fault of my jawline and swooped down into the valley of my neck,
hugging my Adam's apple, curling up into the cul-de-sac between my ear lobe
and face.
February 17th, 2006
Love Me, Love My White Teeth
Is
this right?
While women may focus their beauty efforts on makeup, about 70% of
American men say a great hair style goes hand in hand with white teeth as
the top two most important facial features.
White teeth?
Well, that's what a survey of 600 men apparently found. Just one hitch - the
survey was carried out for P&G's teeth whitening product Crest Whitestrips
Premium.
February 15th, 2006
Close Shave
Amusing article in the Baltimore Sun on
Gillette's nervousness that its planned "big shave" - using a new Fusion
razor to shave off Ben Roethlisberger's beard on David Letterman's "Late
Show" - might have to be aborted, when at first it appeared that the
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback might turn in a sub-par game.
February 14th, 2006
Hand on Cheek, It Actually Works
Gillette has just received one of the
best free ads for
its new Fusion razor that it could hope for on the internet - a plug from
blogger supremo Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds:
Hey, it's a steep $9.99, but no sacrifice is too great for you guys so I
picked one up. Actually, it's even better than the other one, and the
scientific Insta-wife hand-on-the-cheek test confirms that. You want to make
fun of this stuff (er, at least, I do), but it actually works.
February 10th, 2006
The Science (Or the Marketing) of Shaving
The Toronto Star publishes a
huge feature on the science of Gillette's new Fusion razor, quoting a
materials engineer, a dermatologist, a marketing strategist, and a professor
of marketing. It's generally pretty cynical; for example:
Adding another blade is "just coming up with gadgets to outdo the other
guys," he says. "But I think they've gone past the usefulness of the razor."
Gillette could add neon lights to it, he says, or a hand massager to the
handle. Perhaps it could be an adjunct to your Blackberry, so you could
receive email in the shower, he laughs. "To the buyer, it's not really going
to make any difference."
But Gillette needs people talking about its product, and thanks to the
Toronto Star's massive effort, that's what they'll be doing.
February 6th, 2006
Five Blades, Two Ads - Six Million Dollars
 Business
Week provides a glimpse at Gillette's plans to
promote its new Fusion five-blade razor. Included are two TV ads -
costing $6 million - during the Super Bowl, 180,000 store displays and a
global launch that incorporates China and Eastern Europe. But, as the
magazine points out, it's hard to achieve high growth when you already have
such a dominant market share, so Gillette is also making an "extremely high
priority" of the growing men's grooming market.
February 4th, 2006
A Health Thing, Not a Vanity Thing
More on
men's skin care, this time from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
 "For
ages, men have hidden behind the idea that they can age gracefully, while
women couldn't," Nick Sullivan, Esquire's fashion editor, said by phone.
"But now they're starting to realize that taking care of their skin isn't a
vanity thing, it's a health thing."
...Positive reinforcement also has led to ramped up grooming regimens.
"If I saw that a guy had nail polish in his medicine cabinet, I might take a
step back," said Erin Haney, Miss Georgia USA 2003, who hosts "3 Day
Weekend" on Turner South. "But as far as some sort of skin care regimen, I'd
say that's a good thing."
Arts curator and charity activist Dorothea Volpe agrees: "Women understand
that the kind of man who takes care of himself is typically the kind who
takes care of his house and his car and the woman in his life, too."
February 3rd, 2006
Top 10 Men's Grooming Tips
The ABC local television website offers
10
men's grooming tips "to help combat the effects of aging, the
environment and stress," from Chicago make-up artist Marcus Geeter. Here
they are:
1. Whitening your teeth can take 5-10 years off your appearance.
2. Under-eye creams such as L'Oreal Men's Expert Circle Eraser Anti Dark Eye
Moisturizer can reduce the appearance of puffiness, lines and dark circles.
3. Lip balms and conditioners such as Lip Medex by Blistex will alleviate
dry, cracked lips.
4. Soft Sheen/Carson's Magic Shaving Powder is perfect for African American
men who suffer from razor bumps and burn.
5. Truefitt & Hill developed Ultimate Comfort Pre-Shave Oil, which can be
applied before shaving cream to enhance the quality of your shave and also
reduce the risk of irritation.
6. Truefitt & Hill Ultimate Shaving Cream with lavender oil and added
glycerin gives you a smooth, close shave.
7. Jack Black Post Shave Cooling Gel is perfect to soothe the skin after
shaving.
8. Men cannot forget about moisturizing the entire body. I recommend Jack
Black Cool Moisture Body Lotion.
9. Weekly manicures and twice a month pedicures are very important to
grooming.
10. Exfoliating the skin can make it smooth to the touch and sight. Try ZIRH
Aloe Scrub.
February 2nd, 2006
Men's Grooming - The $10-Billion Market
The Los Angeles Times carries an article about the revolution in
men's grooming salons. Nothing especially novel, but it cites some
interesting figures:
Sales of men's skin care products sold through department stores rose 13%
in 2004, more than double the growth for the women's market, according to
NPD Group, a marketing research firm in Port Washington, N.Y.
Retail sales in the U.S. men's grooming market are expected to reach $10
billion by 2008, up 25% from 2004, according to Packaged Facts, a unit of
MarketResearch.com in New York.
February 1st, 2006
Gold Medal Shavers
When I wrote my Buyers Guide to the Best Shavers
and Men’s Grooming Products, I didn't know about
Amazon.com's Shaver
Shopping Made Easy
page. It's a very useful resource, and though it may in part be a listing of
the shavers that Amazon.com wants you to buy, there's little doubt that it
also reflects what's currently worthy in the world of electric shaving
products.
Nine electric shavers are recommended, three each as Gold, Silver and Bronze
medallists. Gold goes to:
*
Braun 8595 Activator Self-Cleaning Shaving System
*
Norelco 9170XLCC SmartTouch-XL Jet Clean Men's Shaving System
*
Panasonic ES8077S Vortex HydroClean Wet/Dry Rechargeable Shaving System
January 26th,
2006
|
|
