• The Wall Street Journal , Monday, October 6, 2008 11:15 AM

Just as shoppers are cutting their spending on everything from electronics to food, Procter & Gamble is trying to convince them of the value of spending more on their razor blades. An ad for the Gillette Fusion Power, which vibrates as well as features five blades in its cartridges, broke Sunday. It asks: "In the world of high-performance, what machine can you run for as little as a dollar a week?"

Unlike past transitions to new shaving technologies, analysts sense more consumer skepticism about Fusion. But P&G maintains that Fusion continues to gain market share, and now holds 36% of the U.S. shaving-systems market, up four percentage points from the year before. The company blames declines in Gillette's older shaving systems for taking away from Fusion's gains.

"During economic slowdowns men will make choices with their wallet, but we don't see them wanting to compromise their shaving," says Chip Bergh, group president of global personal care at P&G. Instead, they buy fewer cartridges at a time, he suggests, or use them longer. To take advantage of this, some Fusion packaging highlights the idea that an eight-pack of blades lasts as long as six months.

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