RocketMan
Gem Star
RazorAddict
Welcome To The Sharp Side!
Posts: 4,167
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Post by RocketMan on Jul 26, 2015 21:52:23 GMT -6
Well I wrote them, just as I think we all should....The response makes me think maybe they don't know yet or maybe they are just dodging the issue....Here's their response: Dear Mr. Chisholm: At this time we can not speak to Williams Mug Soap being discontinued. Williams Mug Soap is currently still being manufactured in limited distribution. Thank you for contacting us. Sincerely, Tamara Tamara Consumer Resources Consultant Case #539986 You did well to get such a response! They do seem a tad slippery at the least! Like Williams should be.
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Post by fram773 on Jul 27, 2015 15:40:47 GMT -6
It would be funny if someone went and stocked hundreds of Williams soap cakes and it turned out they weren't discontinued.
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Post by wchnu on Jul 27, 2015 20:37:07 GMT -6
It would be funny if someone went and stocked hundreds of Williams soap cakes and it turned out they weren't discontinued. Some people probably have almost that many stashed.. just in because. Ok maybe not hundreds but several.
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Post by birdlives on Jul 28, 2015 3:39:52 GMT -6
Would say we could blackmail them with a boycott......but who am I kidding....I love Aqua Velva too.....
But if you noticed....they said, " we can not speak to Williams Mug Soap....bla, bla ...
What does we cannot speak to the soap mean? Sounds like not alot of thought went into this answer.....But like RM said, I always expected and respected Williams being a 'slick' product...so two thumbs up!
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Post by wchnu on Aug 25, 2015 2:06:56 GMT -6
Anything new on this?? I do not hand around other shave sites. Anyone talking more about it???
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Post by TonyJoe on Aug 26, 2015 1:01:48 GMT -6
The consensus is that Williams is not being discontinued.
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Post by wchnu on Aug 26, 2015 2:06:50 GMT -6
The consensus is that Williams is not being discontinued. I am what is known as a fan of that!!
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Post by TonyJoe on Aug 26, 2015 10:15:54 GMT -6
At one time, long before me, it was good. They reformulated it into something that is presently junk. Good riddance. They committed suicide and either can't read the formula from years ago when it was good, or have no one in the company who can make a good soap. Bye Bye! ARKO is here and the Turks can make a decent soap with a similar scent at low cost. Even on our side of the pond it's extremely inexpensive so IMO Williams is no loss. I'd like to feel something here, but can't they monitor what's being said about the product? Combe seems to be riding the dwindling market of people who have purchased and used Williams for decades (i.e. old timers who are slowly passing away). I think their strategy is to keep the price as close to the price of yesteryear as they can to retain as many of these customers as they can. The only way to do that is to make the soap as cheaply as possible and they knowingly or unknowingly chose to compromise quality in order to do that. It would be interesting to see how big the Williams market is compared to the number of people who are part of the "traditional shaving resurgence" who decided to not use Williams. In other words, who is buying Williams to continue to make it profitable, and would an improvement in quality draw enough people back to merit the investment? You'd need the answer to that along with someone at the company who cared enough about the product and the people who use it to get any movement on a change. I get the feeling that the right combination of those things doesn't exist. The consensus is that Williams is not being discontinued. I am what is known as a fan of that!! Me too. Although the mixed signals that Combe was sending at first makes me think that Williams' days might still be numbered in the not so distant future. If they started making the old formula and quadrupled their price so that it was in line with VDH Luxury, I wonder what would happen to their revenue on this product? I guess it would depend on what the demographic is for the majority of Williams' users. It would also require new packaging and some sort of advertising campaign to let everyone know that they had reformulated their soap into a high quality product. I don't really see Combe taking that kind of risk for a brand that they probably see as an "old fogey" on its way out. Which is unfortunate, because I think there's ground to be gained right now. There's definitely an interest in a "back to basics" mentality across our culture. There's the all-natural/anti-chemical crowd that is always looking for ways to not put a bunch of crap in or on their bodies. There's a number of backwoods/survivalist type shows on cable TV that seem to have some amount of viewership. There's the hipster crowd that's in love with all things "old-timey". Add to that a product with a proud 175 year heritage of continuous manufacture in the USA and you could have the makings of an effective ad campaign. On a related note, I looked at Combe's website and noticed they have a job opening posted for a Senior Chemist whose responsibilities would include " - Formulate wash-off & leave-on products such as lotions, gels, creams & wipes.
- Formulate male grooming products such as hair styling products, facial cleansers, after shaves, pre-shaves & denture adhesives.
- Reformulate existing products through cost-benefit analysis & develop cost effective formulations.
- Perform product efficacy evaluations using in-vitro & in-vivo evaluation methods.
- Troubleshoot & solve formulation, stability, performance & process issues that arise during prototype development & scale-up."
I bolded the text for emphasis. I don't know how recent that post is - there's no date. Food for thought. Is there a chemist in the house?
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ShadowsDad
Gem Star
None boring shaver!!
"It's not the bow, it's the Indian"
Posts: 4,534
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Post by ShadowsDad on Aug 26, 2015 14:28:06 GMT -6
I couldn't work for a company that has those sort of bean counting goals. Yes, I know the big guys think they must do that. They all went to the same bean counting schools. Those are the folks who will cheapen something (as Williams did) "and no one will ever know", except that we do. Oh, and they have the audacity to lie and claim that it's "improved".
Clearly I would be a round peg trying to get into a square hole there.
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Post by birdlives on Aug 26, 2015 20:51:17 GMT -6
Last July there were some post across the street (B&B) that said Williams Mug Soap was being fazed out...at TSD someone posted a letter saying it was being fazed out....When I wrote Combe, they said, they don't know....So maybe it's not decided yet...
At any rate, I believe the number of places we see it will probably be fewer....I dig Williams and would be disapointed....I also dig Arko a little more, but can't pick that up at the B&M Stores in my area, and I do like supporting my local Brick & Mortar businesses.
I can dig what @shadowsdad is saying....It's a huge shame for the bean counting mentallity which isn't only depriving us of so many products we grew up using....But is actually the same mentallity that is shaping the Politics and World Current Events in such a huge negative way....and diverting 98% of the Worlds Income into 1% of the population....Thats why I no longer follow the news too closely and just try to enjoy life and stay true to the ideals that I believe in...And I'm glad we have people like Brian who stay true to their ideals aswell and continue the fight to produce a quality product, and enrich our quality of life in so doing ...Bravo!
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