Where is razor blade technology taking us?

Taking off from my last post, marketing as a function has really milked incompetence for all it's worth. Not surprising, since the talent pool that graduates with marketing M.B.A.s have wallowed around like slugs long enough to have assimilated it as a way of life.
Now here is a community that collectively decided one day - 'This is it!' They never knew about 'short term gains' and had turned suicidal enough to lose faith in the long term ones too. So here is what they did - they rose in collective incompetence. They are now so proud about it, that they lease out prime time TV slots to brag about their ware, 'marketing' it to us!

Lets take a look at Gillete. They started off literally at the cutting-edge of technology. The commercial zoomed in on the worked out face of a cheek model (yeah...cheek models make a living by chewing on 20 strips of gum at once, in the hope of turning horse faced with the broad jawline et all:) and the one ultra sharp Gilette blade snipped the hair right at the root, even for muscular ridged cheeks. So there you had it, the blade was the best in the market and was almost shaving the skin off your face.
Then sometime around next year i am guessing, incompetence must have kicked in. Gilette's next razor 'Sensor Excel' needed an additional blade for the same clean shave. This was attributed to 'latest break through in technology'. Zoom in again to the same muscular cheek, and it now takes Gilette 2 blades to do the job. A couple of years later, they came out with Mach III, which had 3 blades. Boy, with three blades that sharp, it should have been marketed as an over-the-counter homicidal best-seller!!
People aren't stupid you know, they smelled a rat...all those blades, and still the same shave. Why should they liquidate their fixed deposits to buy these blades?? Then came the marketing miracle. Gilette glorified the inefficient 'just as close' shave as being intentionally gentle on the skin because of 'aloe vera' on the edge of the blades. Take a bow people, this is clearly the work of a genius.

So, is it really the aloe-vera on the new Gilette Mach III blade thats making your shave 'softer'?? While you ponder on that, Gilette just launched a 5 blade razor called 'Fusion'...for some strategic or feng shui based reason they must have skipped the number 4 perhaps. 5 blades, ladies and gentlemen...i'm sure low-end blades from uganda should be sharper than each of these 5 blades. The day is not far when Gilette comes out with its 23 blade razor. You won't even need to move your hand while shaving...just slap the razor on your cheek and nod sideways...that should do it:)

Incompetence: the stepping stone to success

Whats the deal with success? Well, the first timers who taste it absolutely love it...its like nothing else! Universal validation.
Mind you, 'success' and 'successful' aren't remotely connected. Its like those language aberrations like 'awe' and 'aweful'. Stealing ice-cream from the home freezer qualifies you as 'successful'. If you happen to own Baskin Robbins, then we are talking 'success'.

'Reach for the stars' they say...alright, and what do i do once i get there? Hopping on to another star doesn't seems as exciting now, does it? Success is self-defeating. Its a bit like leading your life at the high-jump championships. One success just raises the bar for the next, which does so for the next and so on. Your fate is pre-destined. Disappointment at not bettering your best! Peeved as hell, you think to yourself 'How can't I be better than me?'.
Of course, it can't be rationalized this easily...its like convincing someone that smoking is harmful. Its a no brainer for the non-smoker, but when was the last time someone quit 'cos it would kill them? Success like smoking, once achieved is addictive, and hazardous to health.

Hence forth, any congratulatory note should flash the message
'Statutory warning: Success is injurious to health'

Success is like the treadmill of competence...keep running towards competence and eventually pass out, bite the rubber mat, and roll back along the conveyor belt into the welcoming arms of incompetence. Or just stand still facing incompetence, and let the treadmill take you there in style!

Yes, its possible to be incompetent and successful. But you've got to have concrete belief in your inabilities.

Step 1: Get proactive. Find fellow incompetents at the work place. Convince them to quit your current organization before they get fired.
Step 2: Offer to work for the rival organization. Your boss will give you all a raise, as you bring the rival's profitability down, and his own profitability up simply by your absence.
Step 3: Offer tips to stock brokers on the rival's share price plummeting. Then buy loads when they hit rock bottom.
Step 4: Same as Step 1
Step 5: Sell shares at bumper profit once the company recovers from your damaging presence.