TGIF

Wow... what a week for me over here. I'm SO GLAD it's now Friday night and I've got 2 days to recoup. I had some things I wanted to blog this week, but could never quite find the time, so I'll throw a few things out there now...

UFO>
Another interesting ufo photo coming out of the UK the other day in Portsmouth. At first glance it's pretty impressive, but as I look at it, I'm pretty sure I know what it is... It's a reflection of one of the streetlights from the lens itself. IF it were that foggy of a night (which it appears to be from the photo) and that particular ufo were up in the air at a distance, it would be MUCH more faint, or possibly not visible at all. Yet, this "object" appears to be clear as day. Anytime you mix a camera, with lousy lighting conditions, and a long timed exposure, you are setting yourself up for a "false positive" :)
Still neat photo though... Read more here at the Metro.co.uk

Deodorant>
I know... EWwww... who wants to talk about armipts. I do :)
So for the longest time, I've been using a deodorant made my "Degree". (This is the praise part) I really like it! It keeps me dry, and practically 100% odor free. Then, about 7-8 months ago, I noticed when I went to the local shoprite, that I couldn't find my brand. There were other degree products for men, but not the one I usually get which is called a "soft solid". Hmm, I thought the store must just be out of stock. But I waited and waited, and pretty soon I realized somethings wrong here. I went on the Degree website, and sure enough, not a mention of the "soft solid for men" (It's still available for women). Odd. I even called their customer service to ask, and sure enough was told that they discontinued it. RATS! About 4 months ago (I'm estimating these times) I was walking through Wegmans, and low and behold MY deodorant! So I bought about 5 sticks of it, knowing it would be off the shelves eventually. Well, I am now down to one stick left, So for the past few months, I've been using a different Degree stick, and it's not as good :( So, last night, I look at my last remaining stick and read the ingredients... the "active ingredient" (get ready for this one) is: Aluminum Zirconium Tetrachlorohydrex GLY (try saying that 3x fast!) with an amount of 18.5%. So I check the newer deodorant and sure enough it's only 17.8% of AZT (I'm not spelling that out again!). So, off to google...
I was curious if I could find another brand that had this same amount of AZT... guess what I found... Degree has a "NEW" deodorant now called "clinical protection"... They've got a pretty spiffy website up that highlights all the "new" things that make this brand superior to all the others. Things like "Prescription strength without a prescription" (huh?) Patented encapsulated fragrance technology (lol - "fragrance technology"? Give me a break.) Then the marketing department threw in a few more buzz words like "advanced formula, Trisolid, clinical protection, etc..." and all that topped off with an endorsement by some football guy that I never heard of.
So get this... here's the "SHAME ON YOU" part for Degree (which is owned by Unilever)...
I find the ingredients list for the women's version of this new clinical protection on Amazon.com... and it's the SAME EXACT Ingredients list as my men's "soft solid"! (except for one small inert ingredient)... And here's the kicker... My deodorant was maybe around $4 or so for 2.7 ounces... the "NEW" clinical protection is now about $4+ for only 1.7 ounces! (that's for a bulk pack of 4, it may be more if you buy it individually.)
So... bottom line...
Unilever phased out one of their other products, took it off the shelves for a little while, then slapped a new name and sticker on a 33% smaller sized container, and now are charging more money for it! Nice Unilever. You should be ashamed of yourself.
And yes... I realize I may be the only person on the planet who has ever read the ingredient's list on a stick of deodorant.
Disclaimer - I'm no scientist or chemist. As I mentioned, they technically changed the ingredients by one item (maybe because I'm comparing the woman's brand with the men's brand?), but I think you get my point.
So after a little more digging, I've learned that the women's soft solid is still on the market, and that Unilever also makes a DOVE deodorant with the same AZT 18.5% (again for women).
So... the next time you see me and you happen to catch a wiff of some "lavender fields" or some other flowery scent... you'll know why... cause I'm cheap, and I don't like being "scammed" by a corporate greed machine.
UPDATE: 2/16/08 - Ok, I guess I should apologize a little here. I got back from the store a little while ago, and turns out the men's "Clinical protection" does have more AZT in it than the womens. So comparing apples to apples - my old deodorant had 18.5% and the new clinical has 20% - That is a pretty big jump. At the same time though... for a single container of the men's they were charging $7.99 for 1.7 ounces! And more marketing slime... the deodorant is in a cardboard box, that APPEARS to be the same size as all the other deodorants (2.7oz).
I decided to experiment... I bought the DOVE brand that has the same 18.5% (actually it smells pretty good, and not "girly" but the packaging is a little on the feminine side, but who cares.) And then I saw "Old Spice Red Zone" with 19% AZT. So, I'll have to see which one I like better.



ufo Portsmouth Degree deodorant unilever corporate greed consumerist