Editing Safety razor (section)

=== {{anchor|3- and 4-blade cartridges introduced}}Recent changes ===
Gillette introduced the first triple-blade cartridge razor, the [[Gillette Mach3|Mach3]], in 1998, and later upgraded the Sensor cartridge to the Sensor3 by adding a third blade. Schick/Wilkinson responded to the Mach3 with the Quattro, the first four-blade cartridge razor. These innovations are marketed with the message that they help consumers achieve the best shave as easily as possible. Another impetus for the sale of multiple-blade cartridges is that they have high profit margins.<ref name="Gillette's Five-Blade Wonder">{{cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2005/nf20050915_1654_db035.htm|title=Gillette's Five-Blade Wonder|publisher=[[Bloomberg Businessweek|BusinessWeek]]|date=15 September 2005|access-date=2010-03-27|archive-date=11 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511072144/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2005/nf20050915_1654_db035.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> With manufacturers frequently updating their shaving systems, consumers can become locked into buying their proprietary cartridges, for as long as the manufacturer continues to make them. Subsequent to introducing the higher-priced Mach3 in 1998, Gillette's blade sales realized a 50% increase, and profits increased in an otherwise mature market.<ref name="Gillette's Five-Blade Wonder"/>

[[File:Gillette Fusion razor cartridge.jpg|thumb|Gillette Fusion five-blade cartridge]]

The marketing of increasing numbers of blades in a cartridge has been parodied since the 1970s. The debut episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' in 1975 included a [[parody advertisement]] for the [[List of Saturday Night Live commercial parodies#T|Triple Trac Razor]], shortly after the first two-blade cartridge for men's razors was advertised.  [[Mad (magazine)|''Mad'' magazine]] announced the "Trac 76", arranged as a chain of cartridges with a handle on each end.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Stark Shaving Mad Dept.|url=https://www.wired.com/2004/03/stark-shaving-mad-dept/|magazine=Wired|access-date=13 January 2020}}</ref> In the early 1990s, the (Australian) Late Show skitted a "Gillette 3000" with 16 blades and 75 lubricating strips as arrived at by working in conjunction with the help of NASA scientists - "The first blade distracts the hair...".  The 16 January 1999 episode of ''[[Mad TV]]'' ran a parody commercial advertising the "Spishak Mach 20" with blades that variously "cut(s) away that pesky second layer of skin" and "gently smooth(s) out the jawbone" culminating in a blade that "destroys the part of the brain responsible for hair growth."<ref>{{cite web|title=MadTV Razor Spishak| date=11 March 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjAZnGeBcgg|publisher=Comedy Central (via YouTube)|access-date=25 November 2018|archive-date=30 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130055434/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjAZnGeBcgg|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2004, a satirical article in ''[[The Onion]]'' entitled "Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades" predicted the release of five-blade cartridges,<ref>{{cite web | last = Kilts | first = James M. | title = Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades | work = [[The Onion]] | date = 18 February 2004 | url = https://www.theonion.com/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades-1819584036 | access-date = 21 September 2020 | archive-date = 25 April 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150425212615/http://www.theonion.com/articles/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades,11056/ | url-status = live }}</ref> two years before their commercial introduction.<ref>{{cite web | title = Gillette unveils 5-bladed razor. New system, available in early 2006, to have lubricating strips on both the front and back sides. | website = [[CNN Money]] | date = 14 September 2005 | url = https://money.cnn.com/2005/09/14/news/fortune500/gillette/ | access-date = 2009-11-21 | archive-date = 27 February 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210227120935/https://money.cnn.com/2005/09/14/news/fortune500/gillette/ | url-status = live }}</ref> South Korean manufacturer Dorco released their own six-blade cartridge in 2012,<ref>{{cite web | title = Asia's Shaving Giant, Dorco, Partners With Pace Shave to Introduce its Premier Shaving Products Direct to U.S. Consumers | work = PRWeb | url = http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/2/prweb9156411.htm | access-date = 2014-11-08 | archive-date = 10 November 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141110214701/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/2/prweb9156411.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> and later released a seven-blade cartridge.

Gillette has also produced powered variants of the Mach3 (M3Power, M3Power Nitro) and Fusion (Fusion Power and Fusion Power Phantom) razors. These razors accept a single AAA battery which is used to produce vibration in the razor; this action was purported to raise hair up and away from the skin prior to being cut. These claims were ruled in an American court as "unsubstantiated and inaccurate".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8074882|title=Judge rules Gillette M3Power ads are false|website=[[NBC News]]|agency=Associated Press|access-date=2007-02-17|archive-date=21 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321192640/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8074882/|url-status=live}}</ref>