Having determined that Dorco razors are superior to Gillette, the question of “which Dorco” remains live.
Dorco makes life difficult by ignoring every principle of modern marketing. Instead of changing their name to “Shave Supreme” and putting all of their advertising effort into convincing consumers that one particular system is a must-have, the company offers almost every conceivable variation and dumps the problem of picking the best one onto consumers. But what man wants to think for himself? Isn’t it easier to have a razor company say “This system is awesome; the one we sold you last year is garbage”? Or a soft drink company say “Your life will be awesome if you guzzle Diet Coke”?
For consumers who identify as “men,” Dorco offers 1-blade, 2-blade, 3-blade, 4-blade, 5-blade, 6-blade, and 7-blade systems and gives them all more or less equal prominence on its web site.
I did a quick test of Pace 4 versus Pace 7. Conclusion: Pace 7 feels substantially smoother. From the Dorco site, the list prices for these are $1.51 and $2.22, though the Pace 4 was on sale at 76 cents/cartridge last I checked.
They have an unconventional marketing strategy from one end to the other, but someone in their beancounting department must understand it. It really does remind me of the early days of digital cameras and portable MP3 players. I’ve stashed a couple of the cheaper razors in places where I might need them but normally don’t: glove compartment of car, etc.
This is also the funniest thing you’ve written in a long time; we needed the laugh. Razor sharp wit! You’re cutting us up!
DORCO! For The Man Who Thinks For Himself!
It’s all happening at the wrong time, alas. You see, if only you had been friends with Conan O’Brien (only 5 months older than you) in 1982! He entered Harvard in 1981, so it could have happened – you could have bumped into each other and become friends. Then if this Gillette thing had happened back in ’91-’93 when he wrote for the Simpsons, just think of it! First of all, you could still tell jokes back then. So the two of you could have collaborated on a “Shave Supreme” episode featuring Dorco vs. Gillette.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_O'Brien
Marge, Lisa and Homer are at the pharmacy and find themselves in the shaving supplies section:
Marge: “There are so many different kinds of these Dorco razors, how can anyone decide which one they want?”
Lisa: “Mom, they’re not like Gillette! They give men the choices so they can ***think*** about which razor they want for the job, not listen to some slick marketing pitch that insults their intelligence!”
Homer: “But What Man Wants to Think For Himself? Marge, just buy the Gillettes. It says right there, “It’s The Best a Man Can Get.” That’s how we got married!”
Marge gives him The Look and stalks off, Homer tries to follow and apologize but he stumbles into a display pyramid of laxatives, which topple over, setting off a chain reaction that takes the whole store down.
Phil,
your commitment to the science of the shaving research is commendable!
I found Wirecutter’s history sections for razors:
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-manual-razor/#a-not-so-brief-history-on-shaving
and for shavers:
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-electric-razor/#a-brief-history-of-electric-shavers
to be both interesting and entertaining!
(Notice that their test was done when 7-blade Dorco was not yet available in US)
After decades of using Mach 3 I finally switched to wet shaving with Braun 9-series (top model with cleaning charger). Works great! Why do more work if machine can do it for you? Also it’s convenient for travel, and it’s possible to do dry shave if so required. It’s not really cheaper though: foil needs periodic replacement, and new cleaning cartridges are required (or not if you are not too lazy to clean it manually).
BTW, Dorco’s copy on the website is hilarious:
-Don’t believe us? 1. Work on trusting people.
-We call it “Venetian Flow™.” Other brands call it “Wait, what’s that? We don’t have that.”
-Also, it’s in a honeycomb pattern, which is both functional and adorable.
-If your face were one straight line, we wouldn’t need a tilting head that flexes to your unique contours