Still... freaky!!

Happened to me, too, as well, about six years ago. They've been doing this a long time, and the stuff they send isn't cheap--I got a Mach 3 (back when they were new) and several replacement blades free in the mail. Retail, that would have been $20.00 of razor back then.

Gillette has cameras everywhere. OK, maybe not.

Seriously, what do you think happens with all the personal information you give for preferred/rewards/club cards or your phone number when you check out?

Be glad you got something useful.

I got one of those on my 18th birthday as well. I guessed that they got your information when you sign up for the draft.

Damn I never got one for my 18th...

Yeah, count me in for having received a birthday gift from our friends at Gillette. I think PsychicPsycho3 may be right -- I got mine shortly after I registered for selective service.

*sniff* I never receive birthday gifts from huge, multinational corporations.

I'd lay money on selective service. Just like the Psychic, mine arrived within a week of signing up, right around the same time I started getting ads from the Navy that had the same look and feel of Gillette's advertising: cool (as in color, not as in awesome) blues and black, and it looked like they merely switched a jet for the razor and "Navy" for "Gillette."

This was the first time I realized our government sold out to private corporations. At least I got $20 worth of razor goods out of the deal. Oh yeah, I still shave with a Mach 3 today. Looks like the advertizing campaign worked after all...

Yes, they get it from Selective Service - When I turned 18 I'm pretty sure the letter in my box included a mention of registering.

Time to upgrade to Fusion, nicholas01. Five blades and the trimmer dealie in the back. Best, smoothest, most precise shaves I've ever rocked. A little pricey, but I just look at it as a monthly expense, like a haircut.

Yeah, I would bet my money on Selective Service selling their database to Gilette. My brother got one of these razors on his 18th birthday, and he'd only previously bought Gilette products at retail stores. I'd be curious to know whether girls receive one of those pink razors on their 18th birthdays as well.

Kinda reminds me of how you after moving and filling out a change of address form with the USPS, all those moving companies and Home Depot seem to have magically acquired your name and new address.

Toss one in for selective service, happened to me, too-- within weeks of signing up.

Yes... seven years ago on my 18th birthday I got the same thing.

Although, I didn't submit a complaint for them sending me a razor that cost ~$15 in stores.

It might be creepy, but it's better than regular junk mail. (Which is all I ever get. Fuck.)

It's either Selective Service or your high school. School districts often sell student info secretly to anyone who is willing to cough up a few bucks.

same thing happened to me but mine was 13 years ago, so they have been doing this for quite some time.

If you think that is creepy, when I turned 13, Kimberly-Clark sent me a box of Kleenex. And I didn't even have a cold.

When I turned 12, Kotex sent me a 'prepardness kit.' Several different styles/thickness of maxis, some tampons, and a book on how to use them.

Happened to me 20 years ago (when I turned 18). I do not know how soon it was after I signed up for SS (age = memory loss).

To all the people who say they got theirs just after registering for the draft: well, of course you did. You register for the draft on or about your 18th birthday; Gillette sends you their junk on or about your 18th birthday. No causal connection needed.

You know, they only do this for guys! My brother and cousin got one when they turned 18 but do they care about my leg stubble? No! I have to buy my own Gillete Daisy razors...this is sooooo wrong. DAMMIT! I want my own spooky birthday razor!

Gillette is not the only company that does this; I got one of Schick's razors for women in the mail for absolutely no apparent reason a few months back. I'm well over 18, and there was no birthday greeting on it. I hadn't signed up for such a promo, but just like the above posters, I didn't feel like complaining for getting a free $15 razor.

got that too, It was for a Mach 3 back when they where new as well so retail was around 25 bucks.

It's brilliant marketing, and very effective. I got my razor after I turned 18, and I've been using Gillete blades ever since. There's definitely a lot to be said for brand loyalty.

Same as above. Got it in college when I turned 18 and just starting to shave. Not that hard to figure out and I have to admit that there plan worked... I was a Gillette consumer for several years before switching to (gasp!) electric.

School districts often sell student info secretly to anyone who is willing to cough up a few bucks.

Colleges don't bother with all that secrecy crap.

The only 'free' stuff I get is the random stuff that's being sent to people who used to live in my apartment well over 5 years ago. None of it useful since I don't bet or intend to pay someone else's bills.

Marlboro used to send me birthday gifts.

But that's because I signed up at a club once to get a free pack of smokes.

All I get are crappy diapers (no pun intended).

Marlboro remembers me at my birthday also.

""We have an outside source that provides us with this information." -- This seems to confirm our suspicions: Gillette knows you bought products from them. They bought your date of birth from a third-party information broker. Gillette combined the two and sent you a birthday surprise.

While odd, Gillette is within its legal rights to do so, as they have a pre-existing business relationship with you."

I call bullshit. many years ago, when I turned 18, I received a very nice razor in the mail from Gillette. Trouble is: I had never bought a product from them. I was all electric back then.

They simply buy the info - plain and simple - just like anyone else that sends you unsolicited junk in the mail. No 'pre-existing business relationship' needed for the US mail. Difference is, they sent you something useful.

Are governments allowed to sell data and mailing lists to private corporations? Federal (selective service) and county (your high school)? I think it would be a handy revenue stream, but that as a matter of public policy it would die. I mean, it's hard enough getting non-paranoid people to respond to the census.

Well, there are a lot of public records that corporations use to collect information on you. The government does not allow electronic access but these companies will still hire someone to sit down at the County Clerk's office and thumb through records recording various information like your birth record, housing purchases, etc. There's a lot that's public.

They then comprise massive databases and sell the information to companies. Next thing you know... boom, free razor.

Google "public record search". Sit back and laugh at your privacy concerns.

I hope someone will insist that Gillette provide the name and phone number of the outside source. Such a source should be no more private than an individual's private information. (And everyone should have the right to opt out.)

I feel similarly re grocery store club cards: If you want to track exactly what I buy, and when and where I buy it -- a private information -- you need to tell me exactly what you do with that information. That would only be fair. But in absence of legislatio...

(I'm not sure why that last comment got cut off - ? The end was just:

But in [the] absence of legislation, they won't.

(See http://www.nocards.org .)

If you've ever filled out a magazine subscription card or online survey, applied for a credit card, been born, etc. your info is being actively tracked and sold. That's how Gilette can send you a razor on your birthday, and why a month after you move you're getting the same stupid supermarket coupon circulars you were getting at your old place.

Legally they have to remove you if you ask: http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/infobrokers.htm

"School districts often sell student info secretly to anyone who is willing to cough up a few bucks."

I can garentee you thats absolutly bullshit, things are so secretive in school districts that I had to have authorization to look at student NAMES just to set up a internal testing database for our kids for No Child Left Behind.

If you catch a school district selling childrens info its a federal offence.

Joe writes:

"I remember hearing, around the time of my own 18th birthday, that
Gillette's knowledge of young men's birthdays comes from the the US
Government. It has to do with Uncle Sam's requirement that we register for
the Selective Service. Seems like a fair trade off: the government
requires us to sign up to get our asses blown off, but in turn we get a
free personal hygiene product.

I remember when I tried to sign up for the Selective Service on a Sunday,
and I received a message saying I should wait for a weekday. Only the US
Government would close the internet on Sunday. And I never even got my
fucking razor."

I'd vote for Selective Service too. I got a Sensor XL (sweeeeet) for my 18th, almost 10 years ago now. Gilette's been doing this a long time.

CVS just sent my husband a Fusion razor and coupons for replacement cartidges. I'm certainly not complaining!

I got a Fussion in the mail but not from Gillette but from Costco.

I got a Fussion in the mail but not from Gilette or the Navy it had Costco's name on the return label.

All I ever get sent is porn.

I received one of these when I turned 18. I was actually pretty impressed they gave me the real product. I used the handle of that Razor until recently when it was lost in a move.

I liked the razor and may not have bought one otherwise unless I had a chance to try it out, so I think it was pretty effective marketing.

I got two for my 18th

I use the Mach 3. I hope they send me some, because I don't want to have to buy blades.

Oh, I've heard that razor companies will put sharp, high quality blades in a new product line but then slowly decrease the quality, so that it easily adopts new customers in the begining and makes it easier to sell a new razor "breakthrough" in the future.

.....Stockpile those Fusion cartridges. You can get a 5-year supply at Sam's Club for about $30. The great shave lasts till the little green aloe strip wears off. Then it's just an ok shave. If the thing falls on the tile floor and the little plastic guard gets cracked, you will do Michael Jackson-level surgery to yourself if you try to shave with it! Have plenty of band-aids and disinfectant handy...

Falconfire: I'd like to see the info on that... I can assure you that school districts in FL still sell student data quite regularly.

Got to go with the SS as well. I got one right after sending in the draft reg.
And if any one here doesn't like these damn multi-blade, try a old safety razor and a brush. You will be amazed by the difference. One blade per side is all you really need and withe the wet shave technique, while a lost art, should be remebered.
I am not a shill, but this is one thing that I missed with out a father in my life, being taught to shave. I had to figue it out my self and I had it all wrong.
Here is a cool artice (vai digg a few months ago)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6886845/
all about the wet shave.

I got one of those for my 20th birthday, but it said it was for my 18th birthday. I didn't complain though.