Gillette
Gillette is a company with a long history making shaving supplies. Their initial mission was creating safety razors, many of which are still sold preowned to this day. Today their focus has shifted to products enabling subscription, with only a single safety razor still being listed on their product page[1].
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1901-09-28 |
| Legal Structure | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Health, Shaving Supplies |
| Official website | https://gillette.com/ |
Consumer-impact summary edit
Well built safety razors are great from a consumer viewpoint. They are likely to outlive their users, they are easy to maintain, and razor blades can be bought from a big market with healthy competition. With a long history in safety razors, Gillette started developing their first cartridge razor in 1964, featuring a plastic cartridge containing two razor blades. This was the start of what might be the earliest example of what is referred to as "two-part pricing"[2], or more commonly referred to as the subscription model. Since then they have aggressively marketed cartridge razors, including their "welcome to manhood" campaign where they sent free razors to millions of men on their 18th birthday[3]. As of writing, Gillette still provide razors for the price of shipping alone[4] with the preselected option to enter a subscription of refill cartridges at $25 per 4 cartridges.
Today in the US alone there were 163 million US consumers of disposable razors in 2024[5], this creates a huge amount of waste that is very hard to recycle[6]. While Gillette's anti consumer practices are more by manipulation than by force, it has had a very large impact on pushing the subscription model with complete disregard of the environmental impact.
See also edit
"Why you should rethink how you shave". Washington Post. 2024-05-19.
References edit
- ↑ https://gillette.com/en-us/products/razors-trimmers-and-blades
- ↑ "How a razor revolutionised the way we pay for stuff". BBC. 2017-04-10. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
- ↑ "Retail's new niche: Aging baby boomers". 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Free GilletteLabs Starter Kit: Razor Handle and Exfoliating Bar". Gillette. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
- ↑ "Usage of disposable razor blades / shavers in the U.S. 2011-2024". Statista. 2025-07-10. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
- ↑ Brucculieri, Julia (2019-05-24). "How Bad Are Disposable Razors For The Environment?". Retrieved 2025-09-03.
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