Do You Owe Your Crappy Shave To Patents?

from the might-be-a-bit-extreme dept

Tue, May 8th 2012 3:15am — Mike Masnick

As some people know (my colleagues at work are sick of me talking about it), I recently became slightly... er... obsessed with the wonders of shaving with an old fashioned double edge safety razor. I won't go into the details, but in reading about shaving with such a device, I couldn't get it out of my mind and have been happily shaving with one for a few weeks now. To be honest, I never thought that I'd ever have reason to mention this in any way, shape or form on Techdirt, but just weeks after I started using one, I saw Stephan Kinsella point to a story by Callum Makkai entitled How Intellectual Property Destroyed Men's Shaving. Given my (entirely separate) interest in both subjects, I dug in. It kicks off with a reference to Andy Kessler's Eat People story about King Gillette's disruptive manufacturing of disposable blades that "challenged at least two professions: the barber with his straight razor and the blade sharpener with his strop."

From there, however, Makkai suggests patents have actually been making shaving worse. His argument is that as the makers of shaving equipment have been fearful of competing with commodity products, they keep "inventing" new ways to shave that they can lock up under patent -- and then try to convince you that it creates a better shave, even if none of the "improved" razors come close to one of those old safety razors:

The commodification of the razor blade was punishing to the profit margins of the razor companies. So the way ahead was clear: come up with new designs, patent them, and make a killing selling the disposable blades.

Thus the 1970s saw the emergence of the BIC disposable razor. Why replace just the blade when you can throw out and replace the whole razor?

Then in the 1980s, Gillette introduced the double-bladed Sensor cartridges. Now the question was: Why throw out the whole razor when you can just replace the cartridge?

Needless to say, these innovations were driven not so much by an improvement of the shaving experience but by the need to create a technology which could be patented.

Indeed, the injector razor did not improve the shaving experience compared to the classic double-edged safety razor, and the disposable razor was in no way superior to the injector razor. Likewise, the Sensor cartridges did not improve on the disposable razor. These developments only made shaving more expensive.

Admittedly, this is a bit of a cynical view on things. And one could make the argument that this isn't so much about patents as it is about marketing -- though it could be a combination of both. Frankly, the story reminds me of what we see all too often in the pharmaceutical world these days -- where when Claritin is about to go off patent, suddenly we get Clarinex, with an associated marketing campaign about how you have to use that rather than the original (much cheaper and equally effective) Claritin. Of course, if people didn't fall for the marketing campaigns, none of this would matter -- but they do. So combine that with the ability to charge monopoly rents due to patents, and voila, many of you are getting a crappy shave, despite the ten blades or whatever they're shoving on those darn cartridges these days. We should always be wary when life imitates The Onion, and wonder if, perhaps, the incentives are screwed up somewhere along the line.

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Filed Under: razors, shaving
Companies: bic, gillette

72 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 3:22am

In the 80s i dreamed about taking out a patent for 3,4,5,6,7,8 etc.. blade razors to stop this. It used to really annoy me how the disposable razor suddenly become much worse than the twinhead, it was as if they suddenly made the single blade blunter?
I've been thinking of trying a safety razor - almost impossible to find in shops though, time for amazon i guess.
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Marcel de Jong (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 3:43am

I started the old fashioned DE-shaving last year. I can say that I've never been more smooth in the face. :)
Throw out your overpriced can of shaving goo and your gillette 12 bladed electricly buzzing deathmachine, and get a brush, some soap, a nice DE-razor and blade, and lather and shave away.

But more on topic, I can't say that I'm surprised. It should be that patents encouraged innovation, but it is being used to punish people who dare to innovate for quite a few years now.
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Mike, 8 May 2012 @ 3:50am

A new way to shave
http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/
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Jake, 8 May 2012 @ 3:51am

On the other hand, nobody ever got barred from boarding an airliner or arrested for carrying a concealed weapon over one of those multi-blade things.
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AL, 8 May 2012 @ 4:01am

Too many blades
Please see my article: "Why are five blades necessary?" at http://wetshaving.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/why-are-five-blades-necessary/
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 4:07am

First half of first paragraph...too much information.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 4:27am

Do You Owe Your Crappy Shave To Patents?

Nope I never have a crappy shave, I have a cup with shave soap, a badger hair brush and a long handle double edge razor.
After my morning shower I use very hot water to make up a softening lather with the soap and brush and remove my facial hair with the safety razor. Pulling the facial skin taught as I shave.

The blades are $0.17 each, the shave soap $0.89 and the shave is better than any but from a barber shop.

Sometimes the older tried and true just works.

Though the razor that Edward James Olmos used on the TV show Battlestar Galactica is one that I would like to acquire.
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peter, 8 May 2012 @ 4:31am

stop changing things!
What bugs me more is that every time a new razor is brought out, the mounting changes and the previous razor is discontinued. This means i cannot by replacements.

aaaaaarrrrrhhhhh
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Zauber Paracelsus (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 4:32am

Tooth Brushes
You see a similar thing with tooth brushes. For years I've been using those electric tooth brushes which marketers love to claim are more effective at cleaning between teeth than the outdated manual toothbrushes.

I've since started using a manual toothbrush again, and I've found that it is what is more effective, while the electric toothbrush has the inferior effectiveness.

This all spawns from the fallacy that technology keeps getting better and that newer automatically means better, when in fact it quite often gets worse. And sometimes, it gets both better and worse (thanks to things like planned obsolescence or just poor quality in general).

How many of you have upgraded an OS or application for its much-touted newer features, but found yourself downgrading to the previous version because it worked better?

Sadly, in spite of this a lot of people continue to believe that newer is always better, and marketers love to take advantage of such beliefs.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 4:34am

I've been using a single edge straight razor for a fair long time now. After initial outlay for razor (I use a Dovo and a Thiers-Issard), decent brush, strop and proper soap you're already saving coin. The razor will last for many years with care and you get a better shave.

All this buying new blade-heads and new razor entirely every year is born of marketing and little more as far as I can tell.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 4:37am

The purpose of a safety razor is to reduce the skill needed to shave. And they preform their job well. The drawback is the quality of shave suffers. Because of our patent system manufacturers have to design work arounds to stay in the gae and not get sued.
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Trollzy Shillbottom, 8 May 2012 @ 4:50am

Oh Mikey - what a luddite ... as everyone with a brain knows, not using the latest wizbang plastic multi blade vibrating razor means the terrorists have won. The war on shaving has begun.
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Don, 8 May 2012 @ 5:04am

5 blades, ohh ha!
I had jumped on the 5 blade with vibrating handle band wagon. Without the vibrating handle it's like trying trying to dislodge ice on a frozen driveway in the winter.

So recently I accidently bought the 3 blades and they shave so much smoother. And I think their prices went up, too.

Maybe I should go down to those weird double edged razors, I've always wanted to try one.
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otto (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 5:10am

I also belong to the double edge master race for at least 20 years, but not really for the cost: for convenience and efficiency. They are better. A three day beard destroys two multi-blades.

I recently checked the prices of razors for the common sucker, due to an article saying they are the most commonly stolen article in supermarkets:
8o ...
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 5:13am

This is why RMS doesn't shave.
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otto (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 5:15am

Re: Too many blades
Sounds like a good answer to the wrong question. No, 5 blades are not necessary. The Onion provides all the answers and the question.
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 8 May 2012 @ 5:16am

�But Customers Are Discerning,� We�re Told
�People are smart,� we�re told. �They don�t just swallow any old thing they�re told in ads,� we�re told. �We present our side of the story, and let them make up their own minds,� we�re told.

So, does the Free Market work, or not?
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Some Other AC (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 5:30am

Re: A new way to shave
Besides being a distinct possibility, the intro infomercial is freaking hilarious.
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Marcel de Jong (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 5:55am

Re: �But Customers Are Discerning,� We�re Told
What?! You mean using Axe/Lynx bodyspray/aftershave/showergel doesn't make women flock to me in a desperate attempt to kiss me?
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Sneeje (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 5:56am

Not convinced patents have anything to do with it
Mike, you yourself have pointed out the dimensions of competition. We all know they are price, service/features, and perhaps scarcity.

The brand names would never throw away their brand value (e.g., compete on price), so they have to compete on innovative features. Whether they could patent their features or not and minimize copying (theoretically), they would, IMO, still behave the way they are now. Perhaps even more so.

I do agree, though, that it would be interesting to see what the prices would be in a patent-free market.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 6:02am

I have a very good shave with my Gillette Mach 3 Turbo. I tried a Gillette Fusion with 4/5 blades and a vibrating handle but it wasn't so good. I always come back to the trusty old Mach 3.
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 6:03am

Re:
I started the old fashioned DE-shaving last year

Me too! Mike cruelly doesn't give me credit here ;) but it was me who got him on this tip
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 6:04am

Re:
Amazon has lots. If you're in canada by any chance, this site is also excellent: http://shavingstyle.ca
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Dark Helmet (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 6:30am

.....
"I recently became slightly... er... obsessed with the wonders of shaving with an old fashioned double edge safety razor."

You're a weird guy, Masnick....
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Marcel de Jong (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 6:40am

Re: Re:
Just out of curiosity, what razor do you use? :) (and Mike for that matters)
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 6:45am

I don't know...
Shaving your head with a straight razor might be a bit tricky. The one thing about the multi-blades is that because they're so crappy its really difficult to cut yourself. ;)
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TtfnJohn (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 7:08am

Re:
Don't give them ideas!
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JEDIDIAH, 8 May 2012 @ 7:11am

overwrought nonsense
This is certainly an area where patents pose a problem but it's certainly not as dire as the article makes out.

I can be as much of a cheapskate as I want to really. Cheaper and more traditional options remain available and I can use them if I want. I can also use the "new nonsense" too if I find it helps.

This is a nice and relatively harmless demonstration of how patents are inherently harmful to the market regardless of whatever long term public good is derived from one.

Patents are treated as trivial and harmless and that's just wrong even if you happen to be "pro-patent". There's a clear downside that needs to be acknowledged here in any public policy discussion. The evil side of patents is usually just ignored and dismissed.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 7:11am

Re: I don't know...
It's more difficult to cut yourself because the blades are at a fixed angle. Though the other reason sounds like a good one to me.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 7:14am

Re:
I started the old fashioned DE-shaving last year.

Me three! And also enjoying a smoother, cleaner shave. And I'll give you both a tip, if you haven't heard it yet:
Dry your blade after each use, and it will last a CRAZY amount of time. I've used the same blade for over a month! It's actually rust that makes the blade appear "dull", if you prevent the rust, you can re-use blades for quite a while. And yes, I stole that tip from Clark Howard.
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TtfnJohn (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 7:15am

Re: stop changing things!
Let's not add to this insulting ads promoting the razor and blades features a bunch of wild camera people and idiotic "reporter" busting into a change room where guys are in various states of undress without all of them getting whacks in the side of the head or in the nuts.

Bye, bye Gillette!
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Paul Cz, 8 May 2012 @ 7:16am

Re: I don't know...
Agree. Does anyone have a good experience shaving their head with a DE?
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Almost Anonymous (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 7:16am

Re:
Badger hair brush for the win!
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 7:17am

Re: Re: Re:
I have a sleek Parker 22R butterfly-open one that I love:
http://www.shavingstyle.com/safety-razors/parker-22r-butterfly-open-safety-razor.html

Mike went with a similar Parker - not sure which one exactly. Blade-wise I'm all about the Wilkinson Sword but haven't really done much experimenting with other options.
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 7:22am

Re: A new way to shave
Dollar Shave Club is cool and probably the best way to get crappy new-style razors. But - they are still crappy new-style razors.

Dear entrepreneurs: there is a kickass opportunity for someone to launch something like DSC with safety razors, offering blade/soap subscriptions and giving away razors/brushes as incentives to sign up for various chunks of time. It could be marketed using a blend of DSC's quirky classiness and the greatest-generation nostalgia employed by brands like Old Spice with its "if your grandpa hadn't worn it, you wouldn't exist" marketing campaign. Remind everyone that DE razors are Mad Men-era razors. You will be rich!

PLEASE DO THAT! :)
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 7:23am

Re: Re:
Badger hair brush for the win!

Curious: Just how notable is the badger hair? I currently have boar bristle and have been thinking about upgrading, but wasn't sure if I'd really care about the difference...
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Almost Anonymous (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 7:25am

Re: .....
Nah, I know what he means. When you convert, you actually *do* get a bit obsessed, especially in trying to convey to your fellow man how much better and cheaper the double edge really is. You start reading shaving blogs and going to specialty shaving sites. You buy badger hair brushes and look for the "perfect" shaving cup. You... evidently proselytize on technical blogs when given the smallest opportunity.
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 7:26am

Re: I don't know...
Shaving your head with a straight razor might be a bit tricky. The one thing about the multi-blades is that because they're so crappy its really difficult to cut yourself. ;)

Big difference between a straight razor and a DE safety razor - but yeah, still not sure how that would play out for shaving your head, which is something i hope to never do :)
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 7:35am

culture
When I was teenager I didn't have much money, so I often had to shave with a dull cartridge. (And even with a fresh cartridge I had a couple of trouble spots like the point of my chin that I always left bristly or bleeding).

At seventeen I was fed up, and saved up the money to buy a straight razor. I got some bad advice on how to sharpen it, and shaved with a dull straight for several years. Who knows how to sharpen a razor these days?

Then I asked a barber, got better advice, started sharpening it the right way (which is actually easier than the wrong way) and had the pleasure of a sharp razor from then on. But my shaving technique was still lousy, carried over from what I'd taught myself in the years with the cartridge razor. I had vague suspicions that I was doing it wrong, but the only tutorials I could find were from the early 20th century; they didn't make much sense and didn't tell me the basics which I suppose boys were supposed to learn from their fathers. Who knows how to shave with a straight these days?

Then along came the Web, with blogs and videos, and I could learn good technique without a teacher. Now shaving is a pleasure, I get a great shave every time, better than I recall getting from the cartridges, faster too, with no trouble spots, I haven't bought a new blade in twenty years, and the one time (since 9/11) when I forgot and left my straight razor in my carry-on bag, the TSA didn't notice it. What's not to love?
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Lord Binky, 8 May 2012 @ 7:53am

Does this explain..
Why women's razors' cost at least $2 more then mens and they get less razors per package? Is it because pink razors are patented and they have to pay licence fees? Why is it noone sells a product labelled Razor-Save that you store your disposables in ? It only has to be mineral oil with a label, and people would OOO AHH and the fancy package and label and spend $10 more than a mason jar and mineral oil would cost, and they'd buy it monthly if you told them to.
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Lord Binky, 8 May 2012 @ 7:55am

Re: �But Customers Are Discerning,� We�re Told
Noo... A person is smart. People are stupid.
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Stephan Kinsella (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 7:58am

Shave Secret
After trying various solutions over the years, including electric razors, wet-dry razors, baby oil or just water, and so on, in recent years I've settled on:
1. Shave Secret, http://www.shavesecret.com/ -- LOVE this stuff. plus
2. Gillette Fusion razor with power-- a little battery in the handle makes the blade vibrate so that the razor just cuts thru whiskers like I've never seen. This combination gives me no irritation and an unltra-smooth shave. Better than anything in the past that I've ever tried.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 8:27am

Re: Re:
except almost everything on the site is out of stock. This post piques my interest in straight razor shaving
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Marcel de Jong (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 8:40am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I went old school, found a really nice second hand but sanitized Gillette Superspeed from the '40s.

But that Parker looks really gorgeous.

Blades, I'm also still looking around, but so far I like Derby's best.
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Almost Anonymous (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 8:49am

Re: Re: Re:
Honestly, I haven't had the opportunity to use a boar bristle brush, but I'd have to guess that they tend to be a bit, well, bristly. The badger hair brush is very pleasant and springy; I've been using it for a bit over a year and it hasn't lost any of its shape or feel. Plus it just looks cool!
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 9:14am

Re: Re: Re:
i think it's just a guy running it out of his house - there's only ever one or two in stock of anything, then it gets replenished a little while after someone buys it. If you contact him he'll get you what you need I'm pretty sure.
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Marcel de Jong (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 9:16am

Re: Re: .....
It's mostly Sharpologist and reddit.com/r/wicked_edge for me :)
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 9:19am

Re: Re:
Wow, over a month. Yeah, I can see how you might consider that a "CRAZY" long time for a razor blade to last. I'd be slightly more impressed if I weren't still getting excellent shaves from the straight razor I've been using since 1989.
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Beta (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 9:22am

Re: Shave Secret
Judging by your photo, I'd say you like it a little too much.
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A Dan (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 9:32am

Re: Re: A new way to shave
Agreed. It's amusing in an Old Spice-style way.
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Dave Xanatos, 8 May 2012 @ 9:33am

Re: Re: Re:
I'd be slightly more impressed if I weren't still getting excellent shaves from the straight razor I've been using since 1989.

That's nothing! The men in my family have all been using the same hunk of sharpened obsidian for generations! Rumor has it that our ancestor got it from a South American chieftain when he saved his life from a jaguar.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 9:39am

"Likewise, the Sensor cartridges did not improve on the disposable razor. These developments only made shaving more expensive."

I'm calling BS on that. The shave I get with a Sensor Excel far exceeds anything I've gotten with other disposable razors or cartridges.

It is also better than the one or two shaves I've gotten from a barber with a straight razor (I guess "safety razor" is the terminology), which resulted in severe razor burn.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 9:42am

Re: stop changing things!
???

I've been using a Sensor Excel for probably a decade. You can still get the cartridges, despite the new 3, 4, 5-blade options
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Mike Masnick (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 9:44am

Re: Re: Re:
Just out of curiosity, what razor do you use? :) (and Mike for that matters)

I'm using a Parker 99R. It's great. For blades, I've been using Sharks, but I just got a sample pack of a bunch of other blades, so I may do some testing. I like the Sharks, but figure I should see what else the world has to offer.
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John Fenderson (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 9:54am

Re: Tooth Brushes
There is one way that the electric toothbrush can lead to a better result: many of them have timers to tell you when to switch mouth quadrants or somesuch, ensuring that you brush all your teeth for long enough. Of course, you don't need an electric toothbrush for this. A timer or clock with a second hand is all you really need.
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Mike Masnick (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 9:56am

Re:
It is also better than the one or two shaves I've gotten from a barber with a straight razor (I guess "safety razor" is the terminology), which resulted in severe razor burn.

For what it's worth, it sounds like your barber is crappy with the straight razor. Also, the safety razor and the straight razor are different things...
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Jeffrey Nonken (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 10:19am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I got my Gillette adjustable about 8 years ago on eBay.

I've tried a few different blades. For me, the Personna worked well for several years, the Feather Platinums are awesome but I object to the plastic dispenser (I consider it environmentally wasteful), and the Astra feel like they're tearing my skin at the corners (they're not, but I keep looking for blood). I'm working through one of the variety packs on Amazon right now and the Sharks and the Lords seem OK. (Gods. Sounds like a crappy gang movie.)

Keep in mind that I never really shaved until I was in my late 40s so I'm probably doing it all wrong. :) But like others, I too prefer a soap and brush, and I'm planning to stick with my trusty ol' safety razor.
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PRMan, 8 May 2012 @ 10:25am

I use a Norelco electric
I use a Norelco electric. Once a week. I don't have a 5 o'clock shadow until Thursday.

Works great and I've been using the same one for a decade. It costs me a few cents of electricity.

BTW, I get flirted with every Thursday like clockwork.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 10:39am

Re: Re:
That may be true about the barber. I have no way to judge that.

But my own experience tells me that the Sensor Excel is vastly superior to the bic disposables or even the Schick models that tried to mimic it, contrary to that article claim of no improvement.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 10:41am

Re: I use a Norelco electric
Well, different people have different beards.

If I shave on Monday, I've basically got a scruffy beard by Thursday.
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Anon, 8 May 2012 @ 10:53am

Response to: Anonymous Coward on May 8th, 2012 @ 3:22am
Reddits r/wicked_edge has lots of great advice from a knowledgeable userbase.
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Dr. Debois (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 10:53am

But, come on, the new-razor-technology-every-year is surely about convincing consumers to buy a new razor every so often and about charging outrageously for razor blades, all in the interest of repeat business? As I understand it, the de facto monopoly of Gillette (at least in my country) is about massive ad budgets and entrenched consumer preferences. Patents is not the barrier to entry here. Right?
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Callum Makkai, 8 May 2012 @ 11:24am

Thanks for commenting on my post about shaving & intellectual property.

My original post wasn�t as clear as it could have been, and you�ve helped clarify that the problem lies not only with intellectual property but also the way large companies get to spend marketing resources and use distribution power to get their patented products into the marketplace. There is at least a three-pronged approach: IP, marketing, distribution.

As for being cynical � I guess I�m guilty as charged. =)
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Almost Anonymous (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 11:45am

Re: Re: Re:
You know, I've often considered a straight razor, but the "possibility of accidentally slitting my own throat" thing always gets in the way.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 11:49am

Re:
I have a question. What makes you think that the various "advances" in razor designs are no better than their predecessors?

I, for one, have had a far better experience using a Sensor Excel than any Bic or Schick product that came before it (and some that came after).
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mantic59, 8 May 2012 @ 12:01pm

Re: .....
You say that like it's a bad thing. :)
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Marcel de Jong (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 12:19pm

Re: Re: Re:
Well with shaving it's always YMMV.

Technically it doesn't offer an improvement, as more blades don't generally offer a better shave, despite what the ads claim. But if that particular kind of razor works for you, more power to you.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 12:38pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
The Sensor Excel is a 2-blade cartridge, so more or less blades really doesn't have anything to do with it (bic twins had been around forever before any Sensor I think).

Anyway, simply saying "technically" before you make an assertion doesn't make it sound more or less right.

The Sensor Excel gives a better shave than its predecessors, based on my experience. I'd call that an improvement.
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Dave, 8 May 2012 @ 12:52pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Best. Response. Ever.
Thank you Dave.
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Marcel de Jong (profile), 8 May 2012 @ 4:00pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Anecdotal evidence at best. :)

But then again I prefer to have just 1 blade.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 4:06pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Sure. I accept the possibility that I may just be an anomaly.

But the difference is very noticeable for me.

Also, I don't necessarily have anything against the 3, 4, 5, N-blade cartridges, except that they use a different pivot point, which I don't like.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2012 @ 4:53pm

If you want to give Safety razors (or straights) a try, go here: http://www.badgerandblade.com . You'll find everything you need to get great shaves, and save a lot of money (if you don't succumb to it as a hobby :) ). Check out the the wiki there as well for great articles on getting started with a new or vintage double edge razor, and the shaving process itself.
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