We are the other 1%

Thoughts and input on anything related to wet shaving or men's grooming.
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KAV
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We are the other 1%

Post by KAV »

I just saw P&Gs latest Gillette advert. 3 anorexic ? shave and then flounce like a gay Soho london hairdresser to the admiring glances of women. They collectively look like the Guy Fawkes masks from the movie V for Vendetta taken by up the Occupy Wallstreet movement.
Barney Fife could kick their collective spincters.
Shaving advertising of my youth had MEN. The Old Spice guy was a merchant mariner on shore leave. His product had a proper Yankee Clipper logo. Now it's a sailboat some tourist from North Dakota wins on THE PRICE IS RIGHT and the commercials a Barney cartoon on acid.
But what do you expect? For years their man in the moon and stars logo was rumoured by some fundamentalists ( look up fundament) to be satanic. They quietly dropped it not to long ago.
Don Draper would have sat on his doorstep,head in hands at what we are being sold :-B
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maskaggs
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Re: We are the other 1%

Post by maskaggs »

KAV wrote:Don Draper would have sat on his doorstep,head in hands at what we are being sold :-B
Philandering aside, Don Draper was indeed a classy gentleman...but with all due respect, Draper would have been more than happy to take on the P&G account!

But I do agree, the current trend of "buy our expensive shite and you'll get laid" is some pretty lame advertisement.
Regards,
Mike
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Post by ShadowsDad »

The "buy our stuff and get laid" type shaving ads have been around since I was a child. Remember the sultry blonde with the accent,"Take it off, take it all off!" ? She wasn't selling her smile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmBlDmcvsqU

KAV, particularly here in the US, women have been trying to denut their men. Nothing new. That's been in advertising in subtle ways for many years. Heck, more than advertising, that's exactly what PC is.

Edit; BTW, I have not seen the ad.
Brian

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Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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Nitrox
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Re: We are the other 1%

Post by Nitrox »

Another great post Chris. I admire you because you tell it like it is. Thanks for the humour.
Bruno

"Shhhhhaving cream, be nice and clean
shave every day and you'll always look keen."
harper
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Post by harper »

Kav and the majority of others on SMF, you are not Gillette's target market and they colud noy care less what we say. They know what they are doing and who they want to reach and how to reach them. Gillette is after the mass market and I would suspect that all the fine Brit shaving creams, soaps, etc. collectively sold in a year would not amount to much more than a day or two of Gillettes' canned cream, gel etc., production. I have no idea how much shaving soap or cream Trumper, TOBS, others sell collectively but it can't be much in comparison to Gillette. As for blades I tried to find out how many DEs are made each year but so no stats on it nor did I find any on cartridger rasors.

In the past 40 years or so ... through products starting with TRAC 11 followed by others Gillette has convinced two generations that multiblade razors are the razors to use and canned shave cream is really good stuff and for the mos t part it is. These shavers are lost to DE shaving by an overwhelming percentage because they like what they are getting and don't look forward to shaving every day. Much of this resembles the argument that was taking place right after the turn of the century when straight shavers looked down at those who used those new fangled safety razors: "Only real men use straight razors" and they believed it. WWI came along clipped that view in the bud in fairly short time although I can remember as a boy that type of conversation going on between straight users and safety razors as my dad picked up during the war.
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ateace
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Post by ateace »

This seems like a new direction for Gillette's TV ads here in the States.

The usual motif used to be the "All-American Man" - playing sports, attending big family events, kissing puppies,etc. The clean, wholesome idea.

Let's see if this new Axe mentality works.
divotmax
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Post by divotmax »

Women are the driving factor in men's fashions and appearance; only a small percentage of men are comfortable enough in their own skin to establish their own image without regard to fickle female choices. We went through that period when the attempt was made to emasculate men by the "metrosexual" idea, apparently to permit (require ?) men to get in touch with their feminine side. Men willingly adopted black leather jackets, cowboy boots and hats, bizarre clothing styles, body piercings, and using bisexual cosmetic products to project what the "other side" was presenting as a masculine image. Now it is the bad haircut/scruffy beard look, along with the Axe products which are the same for men and women. Somehow I can't see women agreeing to use Old Spice cologne as their perfume scent, but men will use renamed women's scents as aftershave. Not sure where the wearing the baseball hat backwards fits in there. There are some men, probably mostly found on forums such as this, who are not subject to the whims of fashion designers and cosmetic firms, who manage to be independent enough to maintain a good shave (at least most of the time) and not change wardrobes each year to satisfy the inability of women to decide what the current masculine image is.
BobS

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Re: We are the other 1%

Post by AZShaver »

KAV wrote:I just saw P&Gs latest Gillette advert. 3 anorexic ? shave and then flounce like a gay Soho london hairdresser to the admiring glances of women. They collectively look like the Guy Fawkes masks from the movie V for Vendetta taken by up the Occupy Wallstreet movement.
Barney Fife could kick their collective spincters.
Shaving advertising of my youth had MEN. The Old Spice guy was a merchant mariner on shore leave. His product had a proper Yankee Clipper logo. Now it's a sailboat some tourist from North Dakota wins on THE PRICE IS RIGHT and the commercials a Barney cartoon on acid.
But what do you expect? For years their man in the moon and stars logo was rumoured by some fundamentalists ( look up fundament) to be satanic. They quietly dropped it not to long ago.
Don Draper would have sat on his doorstep,head in hands at what we are being sold :-B
Please KAV, tell us how you feel, don't hold back.

BTW, you are exactly right.
Jim
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Nitrox
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Re: We are the other 1%

Post by Nitrox »

AZShaver wrote:Please KAV, tell us how you feel, don't hold back.

BTW, you are exactly right.
I don't think Chris holds back, he just uses nice language. :lol: :lol:
Bruno

"Shhhhhaving cream, be nice and clean
shave every day and you'll always look keen."
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JayTrek
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Re: We are the other 1%

Post by JayTrek »

=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>
KAV wrote:I just saw P&Gs latest Gillette advert. 3 anorexic ? shave and then flounce like a gay Soho london hairdresser to the admiring glances of women. They collectively look like the Guy Fawkes masks from the movie V for Vendetta taken by up the Occupy Wallstreet movement.
Barney Fife could kick their collective spincters.
Shaving advertising of my youth had MEN. The Old Spice guy was a merchant mariner on shore leave. His product had a proper Yankee Clipper logo. Now it's a sailboat some tourist from North Dakota wins on THE PRICE IS RIGHT and the commercials a Barney cartoon on acid.
But what do you expect? For years their man in the moon and stars logo was rumoured by some fundamentalists ( look up fundament) to be satanic. They quietly dropped it not to long ago.
Don Draper would have sat on his doorstep,head in hands at what we are being sold :-B
Regards,
Jason

Upon Further Review...
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jww
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Post by jww »

Kav - I also join those applauding your post -- I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw this --- oi!

The V for Vendetta face of Adrien Brodie gave me a totally different take on an actor who has done some decent stuff (The Village was an incredible role that he played perfectly). Bad advise deciding to replace Roger Federrer in the Gillette endorsement arena.
Wendell

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dosco
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Post by dosco »

ShadowsDad wrote:KAV, particularly here in the US, women have been trying to denut their men. Nothing new. That's been in advertising in subtle ways for many years. Heck, more than advertising, that's exactly what PC is.
+1. Yes. What you said.

To further muddy the waters, one issue is that it appears that women don't know what they want and then men become confused (at least IMO). They want "a man" (i.e. rugged, mildly crude ... ... "manly") who is also "nice" (well dressed, well groomed, clean, smells nice, etc.). To some extent the two are mutually exclusive (although not entirely).

However, to be perfectly blunt, some men are totally and utterly clueless about the image they project. Some men appear to not care or even revel in the heinous image they project. In my office, we have one guy who dresses in rags, his shoes look as if they've been dragged through the mud on a daily basis, and he gleefully picks his nose/fingers followed by uncouth "flinging" of the detritus from his fingers. Another guy dresses in ill-fitting "frumpy" clothes, doesn't wear leather shoes, and his teeth look as if they've accumulated a year's worth of liquefied white-flour tortilla paste (the white gelatinous sludge trapped in his teeth is horrific, as a result his breath isn't much better). To say that women do not like this would be an understatement. Hell, I don't like it ... it is unprofessional and repulsive.
Edit; BTW, I have not seen the ad.
Nor I.
brothers
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Post by brothers »

Being in the minority has been my lot in life, sigh. . .

Avoiding the crowd seems to come naturally to me, always on the outside looking in, that sort of thing. Ah, well, now I've stopped caring (actually never did care). I'm happy to stumble around on the fringes focused on issues that are out of synch or utterly mundane. It's a very peaceful and happy place to be, actually! As an example, I've read the OP carefully more than once, and remain totally void of any understanding. I think it's the names of supposedly famous people I've never heard of, and the naivete I feel when I try vainly to think like "the crowd" (you guys :lol: ) and maybe just pretend I know what you're talking about!!! Ok, back to my aluminum foil hat and my brushless shaving cream, pay me no mind! :D .
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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KAV
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Post by KAV »

www.gillette.com It's on the frontpage 'masters of style' with a UTUBE
recording of the commercial.
slackskin
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Go Guys

Post by slackskin »

I am in a quandry. Who do I value most?

On the one hand, I admire KAV for his candor, accuracy, and classy way of putting things. Excellent points all around.

On the other hand, I believe that HARPER adds immensely to the discussion because he has the perspective that only age can bestow. Hats Off to Harper. I have several 75-90 year old friends, and find their perspective adds to my understanding.

To both of you --- keep on keeping on.
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KAV
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Post by KAV »

double post
Last edited by KAV on Thu Mar 01, 2012 1:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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KAV
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Post by KAV »

One of my student incomes was in a market research group. I'd get phone calls, answer a few questions for demographics ( men's opinions on sanitary napkins don't count) and a few times a month spend 2 hours sampling near beers,watching proposed commercials and giving opinions on everything.
One day I was answering the questions, gave my age- now 30 in graduate school and they pracically hung up on me. No more near beer evenings, no more $60 a session. I was past the age when consumers are open to new products.
Well gee :? Since that time I've bought a computer, owned a cellphone
bought the penultimate music listening devise-CDs remember? and have changed my diet. Oh, and I embraced a few older technologies like wet shaving, making tea in a brown betty instead of ingesting Coca-Cola via a 64 oz Big Gulp IV and bought a new tux to see this group called Cirque du Soliel an artist friend said was as fun as my opera.
Marketting would make us irrelevant, emasculate and dumb down the male like that tiny parasitic fish that becomes attached for ilfe to the much larger female with only sperm delivery it's raison d'etre. We will do it in black suits, reverse baseball caps and recycled water bottle hoodies and chicom made denim work pants.
We will preen and strut like that african tribe on National Geographic.
Not me.
Markets change, not always from Madison Avenue.
I'm going to change them.
You should have read the reply email I received from Gillette this A.M. :whistle:
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Nitrox
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Post by Nitrox »

Not Me.
Neither I.
I remember when hoodies were made in Canada out of 100% cotton, baseball caps were worn the way they were meant to be worn, and denim was so thick that it was indestructible. What's with those ripped, 'holey' denims that look like they stole them from a person that's been dead for 50 years?
I like the good old days, that's why I like wetshaving with DE blades, a DE razor, and a nice badger brush and cream.
Bruno

"Shhhhhaving cream, be nice and clean
shave every day and you'll always look keen."
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KAV
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Post by KAV »

We have 7242 registered members here. Let's assume ONLY 20% are still active. That's still 1400 odd people. Now imagine if Gillette got 1000 emails showing distaste for the ad. To a marketing researcher that = 10,000 potential customers since it's a rule of thumb each consumer shares good and bad experiences with that many people.
How many 20 something dudes and their dudets will turn off MTV or Poorman's Bikini Beach to email how much they LOVE and were moved by this commercial?
"If you don't like the news:Go out and make some."
brothers
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Post by brothers »

Yes, we are definitely odd. I can't recall the last time I took a TV ad seriously, as authority to buy something.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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