Moving Toward a Less Consumptive Economy

In 1895, traveling salesman King Camp Gillette came up with the idea of disposable razor blades—a product consumers would have to keep coming back for again and again. Sales soon soared, reaching more than 70 million by 1915, and today Gillette is a company with $10 billion annual turnover. What started out as one businessman’s high-profit vehicle for ensuring an endless stream of sales became a widely embraced concept of great endurance—planned obsolescence. ¹