Did any man on this forum purchase his own first razor?
I’ve been purchasing my own razors since I was old enough to shave; that includes my very first disposable razor.
I buy what’s cheapest/on sale. I have zero brand loyalty when it comes to products of similar or near similar performance; cost is the final consideration under this criteria.
Gillette's entire business model is based on ripping off their customers, so brute doesn't give a flying f about an ad like this. likelihood of ever purchasing a Gillette product continues to hover around 0%.
A bunch of dudes are demonstrating their untrammeled masculinity by taking time out of their day to be outraged by a silly advertisement challenging them to be better people. Also, this same number seems to believe that advertising they see is targeted specifically to that individual. See a smoking ad? Must mean the American Cancer Society thinks you yourself are a smoker.
An interesting point is Gillette decided to get on the Everything is the Culture War train, and people are now following along with great vehemence. From that standpoint their ad was a win.
It's easy to lecture but much more difficult to inspire. If you're going to choose masculinity as a marketing theme, I think the tone of this ad is way better and expresses the good in men to admire and protect rather than a cheap negative stereotype to virtue signal against.
I was going to say something about the alternate ad last night but decided to wait a while. I don't think it's a whole lot better because they seem to be playing a victim card at times. I think a contributor to some of the brokenness of discourse is the wild race to ascendancy in the victimhood domain. I get the temptation to counter the more widespread narrative, but it's a tacit acceptance of the game as the game.
If I recall your bio accurately, you didn't have an in-house father when you were that age? My mother was pretty much at her peak of bi-polar disease when I first started using a razor on my legs at age 13, so my frugal father was doing all the shopping for the family. So, I have strong memory of constantly nicking my legs with the super-cheap pink single blade generics he would buy for me, until my maternal grandmother finally stepped in and saved me from my plight. A lot of women buy the sturdier multi-bladed male-marketed disposables for their own use.
Also, my own son is not a good representative of razor buying public, since he usually has a full beard. Maybe Gillette is trying to woo all the bearded youth back into the habit?
I would also note that I was struck by the statistic regarding father's without custody who still pay child support in the reply video, since I have several friends who fall into this very sad category, and I don't think it is unrelated to growing tendency towards low tolerance for stereotypical? or natural? male behaviors. For example, the behaviors exhibited by the mid-20th century grouchy father played by Charles Grodin in "A Christmas Story" would be considered grounds for restriction of custody in many cases/counties these days.
You have a good memory. Yep - my parents were divorced when I started shaving. Being from a very frugal culture (Ecuadorian), we always considered price in every purchase. I wouldn't buy the cheap blades but I didn't care if they were Remington, Gillette, Schick, or a store generic as long as they were good enough to shave my face without giving me razor burn. I tried shaving with safety razors but never with much success - I'd either cut myself or get real bad razor burn so I always needed to go with the double and triple blade cartridge razors.
@everyone
In regards to the Gillette ad, I didn't want to comment on it because I found it irrelevant beyond its marketing ploy. I didn't feel the ad was speaking to me and it certainly wasn't trying to target actual "bad boys". Chauvinistic men will laugh at the Gillette message and men who aren't chauvinist will ignore it. Gillette knows this but they aren't stupid - they spent those advertisement dollars because they know they will get the attention of a specific group and perhaps turn them into customers. And long after the controversy of this ad is forgotten, the men who felt insulted by the ad will have Gillette stuck in their subconcious, because of the strong emotional component, and buy Gillette items because the brand name is rattling around in their head but they don't remember why. Their hands and eyes will gravitate towards that Gillette brand and toss it into their shopping cart.
Last edited by Campitor on Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
I think a contributor to some of the brokenness of discourse is the wild race to ascendancy in the victimhood domain.
Yeah, I totally agree with you there. IMO, modern victimhood intersectionality helps nobody but the huckster class that promotes it to divide and control people. I'd much rather we build each other up than tear each other down.
I am sitting at the very boring meeting at work surrounded by, among others, 6 young men. 5 of them have beards. Poor marketing guys at Gillette are desperate. As all of us under condition of desperation, they are attempting risky things. Will they be successful? Will these guys sitting with me at this exrutiatingy boring meeting shave? My guestimate is no.
Well, peak beard was supposedly reached in 2014, so we should see the trend reversing back to a more clean shaven face. From personal observation I don’t think this is happening yet, but I’m in Australia and we are notoriously behind the fashion curve
I tried shaving with safety razors but never with much success - I'd either cut myself or get real bad razor burn so I always needed to go with the double and triple blade cartridge razors.
there are huge quality differences and types of blades among safety razors. a good safety razor will give a much cleaner shave than any multi-bladed Gillette POS, and of course even the best blades are much cheaper. brute recommends Red Personna blades. he has heard Feather recommended, but finds them too sharp.
men who felt insulted by the ad will have Gillette stuck in their subconcious, because of the strong emotional component, and buy Gillette items because the brand name is rattling around in their head but they don't remember why. Their hands and eyes will gravitate towards that Gillette brand and toss it into their shopping cart.
brute suspects the opposite - looking at Gillette products will cause a disgusted and negative emotional reaction in those human males affected, even if they won't be able to remember why.
You can buy variety packs of blades from places online that have blades from various different brands. There are noticeable differences, and different blades work well for different people.
Depending on how much and often you shave, blade cost can be under a few dollars PER YEAR.
brute recommends Red Personna blades. he has heard Feather recommended, but finds them too sharp.
What safety razor handle would you recommend to go along with those blades? There are so many models to choose from and its a rabbit hole I'd rather avoid.
Why don't you juste use a knife razor? You buy it once, it works even with tons of hairs, it's fast, you'll be the coolest in the Locker room. On addition, it's by far thé most précise haïr cutting tool if you fancy straight beard lines.
I want something that is fault tolerant. I believe a knife razor shaving requires a bit more focus, patience, and concentration than I can muster in the early morning before work. One bad stroke and...
I shave with a double edge safety razor. The main thing I have to remember is smaller strokes -- really just tiny incremental steps. Be patient and avoid pressing it against your skin too tightly. Otherwise I constantly nick myself. I still end up with a few nicks, but maybe it is as brute says, and the Feather blades are too sharp. I can second the Merkur razors.
