I thought that I had been acclimated to the branded merchandise that luxury sports car manufacturers license other companies to produce, but nothing could prepare me for this product. Bugatti has decided to take this trend down a new avenue. The legendary French automaker Gillette to start selling a Bugatti-branded heated razor.
The GilletteLabs | Bugatti Special Edition Heated Razor is a five-blade razor with a first-of-its-kind stainless steel warming bar. The warming bar is an electric heating element designed to provide “a noticeably more comfortable shave and sensorial experience.” The warming bar technology was developed by GilletteLabs, Gillette’s premium innovation division. I know that all companies should be striving to create exciting new products. But, it seems ridiculous for a razor company to market their innovation division in a similar manner to the performance division of a car manufacturer. The razor on the Gillette website.
While the technology is actually innovative, the heater razor wasn’t created for the partnership. The GilletteLabs Heated Razor, the first-ever heater razor, predated this collaboration. The special edition razor is simply a Bugatti rebrand. The razor is styled with a Bugatti logo and a color marketed as Bugatti Agile Bleu, visibly identical to the Bleu de France used on the Bugatti’s dominant grand prix car of the 1920s. The razor without Bugatti branding on the Gillette website.
While I don’t have any complaints about the function of the heater razor, I personally don’t think it is worth an extra 20 dollars to have the same razor in blue. The different handle color isn’t going to shave my face any smoother or make the blades last any longer. I don’t know what is French for “the best a man can get”, but this isn’t it.