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Last Updated: Apr 1, 2009 - 9:47:25 AM |
The European Commission will on Wednesday (1 April) propose to spend
€80 million to encourage European men to purchase all-body electric
shavers.
The funds form a fresh stimulus move to encourage development of what
the commission is calling an "innovative and green new product market."
"Market research shows that in tough times, disposable razors appeal to
consumers," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told
EUobserver in advance of the announcement. "There is a real danger that
such a shift could exacerbate Europe's land-fill problem. As I have
said over and over, we cannot let the economic crisis undermine our
environmental targets."
"At the same time, we need to be smart in where we apply stimulus
funds, encouraging new, green innovation that can help Europe exit the
crisis while making the shift to a low-carbon, low-resource-intensive
economy," he added.
Given the accusations of protectionism that appeared following member
state announcements for support for domestic car industries made
earlier this year, the commission is keen that the funds, which will
come from unspent sheep-shearing subsidies, be distributed at EU level.
The Netherlands, home to electrical goods manufacturer Philips - the
owner of the Philishave brand, and Germany, home to Braun, are believed
to be highly supportive of the commission's proposed scheme.
The shaving industry for its part believes men to be a virtually
untapped but rapidly expanding new market for depilatory equipment, and
says that the EU plan could create upwards of 12,000 new jobs.
According to Philips, male grooming is one of the fastest growing
segments within the personal care market - up 24 percent in 2008, while
male all-body electric shavers grew a startling 53 percent year-on-year.
Under the plan, male European citizens between the ages of 25 and 49
would be offered a €23 coupon to trade in their disposable razors for
any EU-produced electric body shaver.
The funds target this particular age bracket because the commission
believes all younger men are already in the habit of shaving their
back, chest and legs.
Bob Geldof
The inspiration for the move came when Mr Barroso was sharing a pint of
Guinness in Kitty O'Shea's, an Irish pub opposite the commission's
Brussels headquarters, with pop star Bob Geldof on St. Patrick's Day
earlier in the month to discuss market-friendly solutions to poverty in
Africa.
"I was in the gents, because you know these large half-litre-glasses,
er, pints, go straight through you, and I noticed that the young men in
the Philishave advertisements above the urinals had no hair under their
armpits or on their legs," said the president. "And then there's the
one with the clean-shaven kiwi fruit."
"So when I came back to the bar, I asked my dear friend Bob what this
was all about," he continued, "and he told me: 'The lads are shaving
just about every f***in' thing these days - armpits, legs, everything.'"
Meanwhile, according to manufacturers, older men already prefer
electric shavers to disposable razors, and so those that have
face-oriented shavers as well as those 50 and older are instead to be
offered a €5 coupon for an adapter that enables their existing devices
to trim other parts.
US shaving giants Gillette and Remington have immediately attacked the
scheme, saying that the EU is engaging in protectionist, 'Buy EU'
beggar-thy-neighbour policies and that they are considering levelling a
complaint over the matter with the WTO.
However, a source close to the American manufacturers said that no
decision on such action had yet been taken, and that, privately, senior
executives thought that the EU move could yet do a lot to boost the
overall market and even give them an opening to pressure their own
government for similar subsidies.
Luxembourgeois Green MEP Claude Turmes, a keen cyclist, cautiously
welcomed the new monies.
"I had not initially thought of the men's grooming product market as a
potential recipient of stimulus funds, and we certainly didn't include
it alongside energy efficiency and public transport spending in the
launch of our Green New Deal manifesto for the June elections, but
perhaps we should have done," he said.
"So long as the electricity used to power the shavers comes from
genuinely renewable sources such as wind and solar power and not
nuclear or biofuels, there's almost no environmental downside. Barroso
makes a compelling point."
"I'm not about to shave off my ponytail, however," he warned.
High-level expert group
Lobbying transparency activists nevertheless were scathing about the
announcement, and accused the commission of caving in to heavy lobbying
from the shaving industry.
"It's no coincidence that the announcement is made on the same day as
the corporate-financed International Day for the Prevention of Hairy
Backs," said Olivier Hoedeman of Alter-EU, a transparency pressure
group.
In the lead-up to the announcement, Alter-EU found that a commission
high-level expert group on 'New Directions in Male Grooming Habits' was
"stacked" with representatives of Philishave, Braun, a Hungarian animal
clipper firm and Speedo.
"And only a single representative from the non-shaving community,"
which he defined as: "You know, hippies."
Source:Ocnus.net 2009
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