I was looking at some Eversharp Schick ads from 1946 and a recurring slogan caught my attention: "The razor demanded by 7 out of every 10 men in service!" I'm curious about a few things. First, by "in service" did they mean soldiers in the then-recent war? Second, if Schick Injector razors represented 70% of any kind of market then why weren't they more of a dominant force in the overall shaving industry? It seems like that should have easily put Gillette on the ropes. Obviously, I'm missing something but I'm not sure what.
If anything, ads may actually have been more full of B.S. back then. Still, I assume they probably had some basis for the claim. I love the use of the word "demand", though. Images of indignant GI's (or new draftees) facing off against tough Supply Sergeants over available razors.
"...in service." Can mean anything thay want it to mean. I think @John Ruschmeyer is on the mark implying the rules of "truth in advertising" back then are not what they are now.
I had a moment of clarity this morning and I think I've broken the code on this "7 out of 10" thing... I read another Eversharp Schick ad from Christmas 1946 which had the same slogan except that "demanded" was replaced with the word "requested". For some reason, that put a different spin on it. I think the ad copywriter wanted the reader to thing that Schick Injectors were demanded/requested by 70% of servicemen. I suspect, though, that the correct interpretation is something more like: "The razor requested by 7 out of 10 men in service who had a specific razor choice." This actually makes a lot more sense. I assume the 30% of the non-default choice was probably split among razors such as Gem, AutoStrop, Enders, and maybe even some Straight Razors.