Gillette's New Razor: No New Blades!
A redesign of Gillette's Fusion razor, the nation's best seller, is coming and - before you ask - it doesn't have any extra blades.
The company plans to have the Fusion ProGlide on store shelves in June. It's the first new shaver Gillette has developed since Procter & Gamble Co. took it over in 2005, and it benefits from research expertise at the Cincinnati-based makers of Olay skin cream and Pantene shampoo.
New features range from blades that are 15 percent thinner and meant to tug skin less, to a better grip and new mineral-oil lubrication.
"Guys don't say they want more blades. They want more comfort," Matt Wohl, Gillette general manager for new male products, said Wednesday.
The five-blade Fusion was developed before Boston-based Gillette became part of P&G and made its debut soon after. It's become a $1 billion brand in annual sales and accounts for 45 percent of the men's razors sold in the U.S., according to P&G.
Wohl joked about customer speculation that Gillette would jump to six or seven or even 10 blades. But he said the company's focus was on making shaving easier and less irritating to the skin. So there will be no escalation in the decades-long blades race.
It all started with Gillette's introduction of a two-blade razor in 1971, Japan's Kai going to three in 1998, soon followed by Gillette's three-bladed Mach3, and then Schick Wilkinson-Sword's four-blade Quattro in 2003.
P&G Researcher Stew Taub said some 30,000 men were involved in testing and developing the latest Fusion over several years, with researchers studying groups of 80 subjects a day, recording how many strokes they used, which directions they shaved and other details.
"Shaving is a very complicated and precise operation," he said.
The ProGlide will cost 10 percent more than the current Fusion, at a suggested price of $10.99 for a handle and a single shaving head.
The launch includes four new products to use before and after shaving, including a thermal scrub Taub says will mimic the effect of a barber's hot towel. They'll sell for $6.99 to $8.99.
AP The company plans to have the Fusion ProGlide on store shelves in June. It's the first new shaver Gillette has developed since Procter & Gamble Co. took it over in 2005, and it benefits from research expertise at the Cincinnati-based makers of Olay skin cream and Pantene shampoo.
New features range from blades that are 15 percent thinner and meant to tug skin less, to a better grip and new mineral-oil lubrication.
"Guys don't say they want more blades. They want more comfort," Matt Wohl, Gillette general manager for new male products, said Wednesday.
The five-blade Fusion was developed before Boston-based Gillette became part of P&G and made its debut soon after. It's become a $1 billion brand in annual sales and accounts for 45 percent of the men's razors sold in the U.S., according to P&G.
Wohl joked about customer speculation that Gillette would jump to six or seven or even 10 blades. But he said the company's focus was on making shaving easier and less irritating to the skin. So there will be no escalation in the decades-long blades race.
It all started with Gillette's introduction of a two-blade razor in 1971, Japan's Kai going to three in 1998, soon followed by Gillette's three-bladed Mach3, and then Schick Wilkinson-Sword's four-blade Quattro in 2003.
P&G Researcher Stew Taub said some 30,000 men were involved in testing and developing the latest Fusion over several years, with researchers studying groups of 80 subjects a day, recording how many strokes they used, which directions they shaved and other details.
"Shaving is a very complicated and precise operation," he said.
The ProGlide will cost 10 percent more than the current Fusion, at a suggested price of $10.99 for a handle and a single shaving head.
The launch includes four new products to use before and after shaving, including a thermal scrub Taub says will mimic the effect of a barber's hot towel. They'll sell for $6.99 to $8.99.
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$10 handles, creams, salves, and the like are for guys who never learned how to shave in the first place.
WHAT A LIE
And with every dam blade the price of the refill goes up. This has been nothing but a cheap marketing stunt to make more money, right from the introduction of the second blade. Refills are sooo expensive and Gillette and to a lesser degree Schick have a near monopoly on this product. And to make it worse, they ship 2 refills in a pack designed to hold 4, what wasteful excess of packaging. It would probably shock people to see the real cost of making a refill vs what they charge us. The perceived benefits of more blades do not justify the price!!!
I don't see how this story even deserves reporting.
Or hoping to transplant the hair from your ars to your face through contact.
I'm not sure of your gender, but I would say you are male and have never had a date...because the desire for a super smooth shave, for most men, comes predominately out of concern for our female companions. Whisker burn from kissing and...other...activities is a real issue for those of us who actually interact with the opposite sex. Some day you may actually learn about it first hand.
Total and complete waste of money, brainwashed men into the midsent they have to be "clean shaven" so smooth their faces resembles a baby's azz.
Waste of time, waste of money, men were meant to have beards otherwise the hair wouldn't be there in the FIRST PLACE.