Blademakers' battle is on cutting-edge

If you look hard enough and long enough, you can find humor in the most unlikely spots. Sometimes you don't even have to look too hard.

A lawsuit was filed this week by Schick - the razor blade guys - against Gillette - the other razor blade guys. Schick is claiming Gillette used false advertising to promote its Mach3 Turbo blade against the Schick Quattro blade. So there you have it in a nutshell. Blade vs. blade. Down to the cutting edge. Should be a bloody lawsuit. It will surely be real close. They're neck and neck. And for now, that's all of the bad puns I can muster.

But the real kicker to these blade battles is that Gillette claims they spent $1 billion developing the Mach3 Turbo. One billion bucks to develop a razor blade? What am I missing here?

How could you possibly spend a billion dollars "developing" a new razor blade? Granted, I understand the spending needs of research and development. But a billion bucks would be more appropriate to developing a new rocket launcher or auto safety device. I just can't picture some scientific crew from Gillette trying to determine how to attain a closer shave and spending a billion dollars in the process.

I have shaved with used, rusty blades left by drunken fraternity brothers in the most disgusting places you can imagine. I have nicked myself, cut myself and even considered an aging pocket knife once in a true pinch. I have used Lava soap as a shave cream and hot water when no shave cream was available. That puts me in the experienced category.

Had I known Gillette spent a billion dollars on these new razors, I would have rushed to my nearest store just to savor the shaving sensation. If Gillette spends a billion to develop a new razor blade then they must spend a gazillion to develop their new electric razor.

A company which spends a billion on development for a razor blade should not be annoyed by a pesky lawsuit. Just pay the money.

P.S. I use the blue blades but I'm not sure who makes them. And quite frankly, I don't really care!