Gillette vs. Schick: Firefighter shave-off chalks one up for the hometown blade

By Naomi Aoki, Globe Staff, 9/19/2003

WATERTOWN -- The competing claims of superiority by Schick-Wilkinson Sword's Quattro, the world's first four-blade razor, and Gillette Co.'s Mach3Turbo, left us more than a little mystified. So to try to provide some clarity, we enlisted the faces of six Watertown firefighters. Each shaved the right side with the Mach3Turbo and the other side with the Quattro. (The razor won't be available in most stores until Monday, but Schick kindly provided The Boston Globe with a promotional sample that included one razor and six razor blade cartridges.)

The result of this very unscientific test: Gillette, by a whisker.

The shave-off was conducted one morning this week at the firehouse. Initially, three firefighters chose the Mach3Turbo. Two preferred the Quattro, and one firefighter decided the shaves were too close to call. But by early evening, one firefighter switched his vote to Gillette from Schick, making it four out of six in favor of the Mach3Turbo.

"I'd have to take back the comments," said Bob Power. "I've converted back to Gillette."

What? Did Gillette tamper with our test subjects behind the scenes?

As it turns out, it wasn't Gillette but Power's wife, Jill, who exerted her influence. When she came home from work, she rubbed her husband's cheeks. With nary a moment's hesitation, she determined the Gillette side was "definitely smoother."

That's too bad for Schick because earlier in the day Power was the only firefighter gung-ho about switching to a Quattro razor. Captain David Melanson -- the other firefighter who preferred the Quattro and by day's end the lone firefighter remaining in the Schick camp -- was noncommittal about whether he'd actually switch razors. He said he was postponing the decision until after he'd run through his stash of Mach3 blades.

That's music to Gillette's ears. (We swear, there was no hometown favoritism. Both companies call New England home, with Gillette in Boston and Schick in Milford, Conn. -- though Schick's parent company, Energizer Holdings Inc., is based in some place called St. Louis.)

"Despite the unscientific nature of the test, the results seem to support that Mach3Turbo is the world's best shave," said Gillette spokesman Eric Kraus.

Before Gillette gets carried away congratulating itself, however, it seems only fair to point out that the decision was a close one for most of the firefighters. Two out of the three firefighters who ultimately voted for the Mach3Turbo had some difficulty picking out the closer, smoother shave.

"I can't tell the difference between the two," said Richard Garcia, who buys disposables "because they're cheap" and isn't switching to a Mach3Turbo or a Quattro unless, of course, they become cheap. (Schick will sell Quattro in a package of one razor with two razor blade cartridges for $8.99, in line with Gillette's Mach3Turbo.)

"I don't see much of a difference to be honest with you," said Lieutenant Gene Merullo, who gave the nod to Gillette for comfort, not closeness.

Lest anyone take these results too seriously, we also note a few flaws in our testing method. For starters, a sampling of six people lacks the statistical power to provide much proof of anything. Secondly, there was no way to "blind" the test subjects to which razor had three blades and which had four, making the results vulnerable to charges of bias. Third, all six firefighters already use Gillette shaving products -- and with all due respect to their integrity, that fact could also raise questions of bias and undue influence.

Schick spokeswoman Jacqueline Burwitz didn't seem concerned by the results. She was even good-natured enough to point out a few more flaws with the test and offer to send along more Quattro blades for further experimentation. At Schick, she said, they have test subjects shave at the same time every day and they give them time to adjust to a new product.

"In a scientific study, you wouldn't take just one test," Burwitz said. "You would have the person shave for several days so you can eliminate any prior brand preference."

Naomi Aoki can be reached at naoki@globe.com.