What Retirees Want

7Retirement Isn't a Solo Project: The Entangled Endearments of Family Relationships

THE GILLETTE TREO™ is the world's first razor designed for shaving someone else. Developed with the help of caregivers, the award-winning design features an ergonomic handle suited to the person doing the shaving, a special non-foaming shaving gel conveniently stored in the handle, and even a safety comb to protect the skin. Gillette points out that there have been 4,000 variations on safety-razor design, but this is the first specifically for caregivers and care recipients.

At the center of the TREO's launch was a multiple-award-winning three-minute ad called “Handle with Care.” It shows a middle-aged New Jersey man, Kristian Rex, together with his son Luke, caring for his widowed father, who had suffered a stroke and was unable to do many things for himself. Rex awakens his father and helps him to the bathroom for a shower, shampoo, and shave. Rex narrates the story, from how as a kid he admired the physique and “Popeye arms” of his tugboat-captain dad to the current role reversal: “Now he needs me to help him out…. It's actually an honor to do that for your father because he did it for me when I was a kid.” Shaving him carefully and conventionally had taken a while, “but I gotta be careful with that face.” The story ends with the father looking good, the three men sharing some wine, and an affirmation of how the generations take care of each other. The camera draws in on Rex as he heartfully ...