Gillette gets a class-action suit

Hot on the heels of the reports that a US court has ruled that Gillette's M3Power ads were deceptive, the Boston Herald reports that a class action suit is being brought against Gillette by consumers in New York and Florida.

In a class-action suit filed yesterday, Mark Dearman of Florida and Anthony DeBiseglia of New York allege the company intentionally misrepresented its product.

They're looking for a refund of at least part of what they paid for the razors, according to their lawyer, Samuel H. Rudman of New York.

The class action includes all consumers in Florida and New York who bought the Gillette razor. Other suits will likely be filed on behalf of people in other states, Rudman said.

I don't know what burden of proof exists for cases like this, but it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Shaving ads

The Australian has an interesting commentary in the wake of a recent court decision about Gillette's M3Power advertising campaign (mentioned previously here).

As a company executive explained last year: "Gillette and its competitors are developing more premium, expensive razors and blades. This is where the market is headed - both men and women are trading up. They want better products and will pay a premium price for them."

That's why it was hard not to feel satisfaction last week when a federal judge in Connecticut ruled that advertising by Gillette about the scientific advances associated with its M3Power shaving system was a load of rubbish.

The article takes a certain delight in slamming Gillette, and then noted:

At issue now is whether Gillette Australia - which is not bound by the decisions of US courts - will voluntarily abide by Judge Hall's decision or persist with making claims about the M3Power that have been judged fictional.

It's interesting, I've noticed a lot of resentment towards companies like Gillette. It seems a common sentiment that razor blade sales are a real cash cow, and bilk the consumer. I guess that's natural; I feel the same way when I'm looking at the prices of these blades at the supermarket.

Court slams Gillette

Back in April, I linked to some articles about Schick's lawsuit against Gillette, in which they said that Gillette's advertised claims about the M3Power were false and misleading (1, 2). Yahoo News has a press release about the results of the case:

Energizer Holdings, Inc. today announced that Judge Janet C. Hall of the United States District Court, District of Connecticut, granted Schick a preliminary injunction against false advertising claims by Gillette for its M3Power razor. The court found certain claims by Gillette for the M3Power to be "literally false."

Judge Hall determined that Gillette's claim that the M3Power raises hair up and away from the skin is both "unsubstantiated and inaccurate." The court found that that the product demonstrations in Gillette's advertising are "greatly exaggerated" and "literally false."

Gillette has to stop making the claims in its advertising within the next month, according to the injunction.

This is a big legal win for Schick, but they are also on the defensive in court over another matter. As mentioned earlier, Gillette is claiming that Schick's Quattro violates Gillette's patent for the Mach 3 (1). If Gillette wins that one, sales of the Quattro will be blocked in the US. That battle continues.

This all leaves me wondering, which razors do the lawyers use?

32 Microns

Coverage of the trial on the merits of the M3Power ad campaign continues in the Connecticut Post Online. Kevin Powell, director of Gillette's Advanced Technology Center, came from England to testify at the trial.

Powell described a series of tests of oscillating razors that indicated that vibrations extended hair sometimes as much as 83 microns, depending on the type of blade used. One micron equals approximately 0.00004 inch.

The M3P, according to Powell, extends hair approximately 32 microns, but he admitted he has never tested the current model being marketed, and his figures are based on a prototype.

The Gillette lab also ran tests to see if the way people prepare to shave affects hair extension. The tests showed that just about any time moisture is added to the skin, hair exposure is decreased, most likely because skin soaks up the moisture and hides some of the hair, Powell said. However, when a person rubs his or her face for 20 seconds with a dry finger, hair extends 19.8 microns, according to the tests. But Powell noted that shaving without moisture would be "excruciating." Powell also showed off some of his lab's technology.

Of course, there's more than one expert being called to testify.

Powell wasn't the only scientist questioned Wednesday. John Thornton, an independent statistical consultant who analyzed results from tests that Schick ran on the M3P to see if it performed as Gillette claimed, testified that the data revealed that "there was no significant statistical change in hair length with power on or power off."
But Thornton admitted that his conclusion is derived only from the test data he was given, and that one couldn't conclude that the M3P doesn't extend hair.

It's amazing how much money is involved in something so small. The "hair-lengthening" effect that Gillette is advertising is measured with a microscope, but it's worth untold millions of dollars to the company.

For comparison, hair for most people tends to grow about 200 to 400 microns per day, most of the time (as an estimate).

M3Power still in court

We've read before about Gillette being taken to court by Schick over it's claims that the M3Power razor's vibration feature causes hairs to stand up (1, 2). Schick won an injunction in Germany that prevented Gillette from advertising those claims. Now the two shaving giants are in court in the US, and the Connecticut Post Online has an article about the on-going trial.

Schick called several witnesses to the stand Tuesday, including its own director of marketing, Adel Mekhail, who, under cross examination, revealed that Schick was going to claim that its own vibrating razor raised hairs "before we found out it doesn't." Dr. David Leffell, a professor of dermatology and clinical surgery at Yale University School of Medicine, testified that he witnessed two tests in 2004 that indicated that vibrations from Gillette's M3P wouldn't cause hairs to be raised up.

Gillette, of course, denies Schick's claims.

Clay denied that his company made any false claims about its product and said that Gillette tests showed that hairs are elongated by 35 to 40 microns when the M3P is in use. One micron equals approximately 0.00004 inch.

I've always considered the claim that the M3Power causes the hair to stand up to be dubious at best. While I like Gillette's Mach 3 razor, I'm skeptical about their advertising claims, and disappointed in their marketing tactics in general.

Shaving satori

Dan Neil of the LA Times writes a humourous piece on shaving (registration required), both the face and below. It all starts with the need for a new razor, and the discovery of the M3Power.

I was skeptical. This language - lauding the mysterious, curative effects of electricity with the power to make whiskers erect - put me in mind of 19th century medical devices like galvanic trusses that promised instant "invigoration." But I needed a razor and, frankly, men are powerless in the face of needless technology.

Once in front of the mirror, with a Santa's beard of shaving cream on my face, I switched on the M3Power, which began to buzz in a way both familiar and disconcerting, like something you might pull from the night table. Then, shaving satori! The M3Power purred softly against my cheek like an affectionate cat. It traced the contours of my face with a sweet, gliding, electrified caress that banished not just the hair but all memory of hair.

Two minutes later, my face was smoother than a salamander. It was like shaving down to my soul.

Neil later suggests that the modern razor is over-engineered for the face, and is gearing up to shave all body hair.

Personally, I've never wanted to put in the time required to shave my entire body, but I know of people who do it. I find it challenging enough to find the time to shave my face and scalp regularly.

Consumer watch: M3Power

I've always valued the reviews produced by Consumer Reports magazine. They tend to do their research, and they're not beholden to any commercial interests aside from their subscribers. K-Fox TV has a piece on their website discussing Consumer Reports evaluation of the M3Power

The verdict, well, the M3-Power did deliver a very close shave. But it turns out it was no better than Gillette's Mach 3 Turbo, which is $7 cheaper. So Consumer Reports says there's no need to pay more just to get a little buzz.

Not everyone agrees, of course, and I've had email from people who felt the M3Power was better for them than the regular Mach 3. For instance, this email:

I just read your review on the m3 power, and I think it doesn't do the razor justice at all. 1st off, the lubrication is way better on those blades, and there is a big difference between those blades and the regular Mach 3 blades. 2nd off, I do agree with you that the shave is about the same as far as closeness goes, but the major plus for this razor compared to any other razor I've used, is how gentle it is on the skin. I'm not sure how your skin is, but mine is very irritable and just about anything messes me up. This razor is the best I've ever had when it comes to taking care of my scalp. I've tried it with the vibration and without, and I'm confident that this is mostly due to the vibration, although I do feel that the extra lube on the blade helps a bit more as well. The other thing with this razor is that due to the vibration, I can use the blades twice as long as I could with a non-vibrating handle. As far as it costing too much, I think that's bogus, it's a whopping 7 or 8 bucks more, and it's not like you gotta buy one every week, you buy it once. It costs less than that damn headblade and it works twice as good.

The author referred to the review of the M3Power on my site, in which I recommended sticking with the regular Mach 3.

Personally, I think you can reduce irritation by using a good shaving lubricant (like shaving oil or Aveeno Positively Smooth shave gel), and it's a cheaper method for improving one's shave than the M3Power. Of course, your mileage may vary.

M3Power comments

WCPO's Don't Waste Your Money has a short bit on the Gillette M3Power:

But is it really better than Gillette's top selling Mach 3 Turbo?

A half dozen men who work for our partner, Consumer Reports magazine, checked this one out.

After one week, most announced it shaved well... but was not noticeably better than the Mach 3, which has no battery.

They give it a B, and say that the Mach 3's a better buy. I tend to agree.

At least these guys shaved themselves and not fruit.

Speaking of the M3Power, it's still having legal problems around the world. I mentioned previously that Wilkonson Sword (owner of the Schick brand) had filed suit against certain claims made by Gillette, specifically the claim that the M3Power's vibrations caused the hair to stand up. In that case an injunction was granted in Germany preventing the claim from being aired in ads. Problems continue in Australia.

In that case and the subsequent Australian one, Energizer submitted the results of tests conducted by it and "observed" by Yale University dermatology professor, David Leffell.

According to Justice Hely, a special apparatus was used to demonstrate "a fully automated and controlled shaving stroke", yet Dr Leffell observed "no hair-raising or hair directional change effect". The Yale professor gave evidence to the Australian court by video link, as did Gillette experts, who disputed the findings, and maintained that the M3Power did create a "hair-extension effect".

In his judgement, Justice Hely said Energizer was developing, or at least investigating, a battery-powered oscillating razor of its own. That could lead to an inference that Energizer believed that such a razor would provide "enhanced shaving performance", the judge said, adding: "This matter was not disclosed on the application for an ex parte injunction. It should have been disclosed."

It will be interesting to see what happens with these cases.

Shaving fruit

First, the M-3 razor, a single razor and a double-edged razor were tested on the outside of a kiwi fruit.

"The M-3 was the only one that didn't break the skin," Schumacher said.

"Problem Solver" Mark Schumacher of Local 6 in Florida decided that the way to test the quality of a razor was to use it to shave fruit. Aside from the kiwi fruit, he also tested it on an orange. He recommended the M3Power based on this rigorous and exacting test.

Unfortunately, the brief item on their website didn't tell us how long it took for the kiwi fruit's hair to grow back, or whether the orange suffered razor bumps. It also didn't specify the shaving lubricant employed by the fruits.

Personally, I'm stunned that they didn't use a melon: it would seem like a natural choice, wouldn't it?

Next up: deciding what brand of refrigerator you should buy based on how well magnets stick to the door.

M3Power vs. Quattro, yet again

Given their recent legal battles, I thought I'd post a different type of conflict between these two razors.

kltv.com put the Schick Quattro and the Gillette M3Power "head to head", so to speak. Their conclusion? They liked the M3Power. I didn't find any serious difference between the two, myself, so I tend to go for the cheaper one.

M3Power in court

According to this website, Wilkinson Sword (maker of the Schick Quattro) has filed suit over Gillette's marketing claims for it's M3Power razor. Apparently, Wilkinson Sword wasn't buying into the claim that the M3Power's micro-pulses actually made the hair stand straighter.

Colin Hutchison, European vice president for Wilkinson Sword, says Gillette's claims about their new razor seemed improbable to them. Their scientists examined the razor and found Gillette's claims to be incorrect.

Undoubtedly, Gillette will fight this in the courts, but it should be interesting to see how this plays out.

Personally, I'm with Wilkinson Sword on this one. I doubt very much that the vibration feature (micro-pulses sounds so silly) actually makes the hairs stand up. I'll be really curious to see if Gillette can produce any evidence that it does what they say it does.