Oscar Razor takes on the US

This Aussie entrepreneur is confident he can take on the likes of Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s.

Oscar founder Oscar de Vries. Source: Supplied.

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David Swan 12.30pm: Oscar Razor takes on the US

Australian men‘s grooming company Oscar Razor is taking on the US market, with a new crowdfunding campaign echoing a Remington classic.

OSCAR, which has over 10,000 subscribers who each receive a number of razors every two to four months, is raising $US1 million through America‘s largest equity crowdfunding platform Wefunder.

Founder Oscar de Vries told The Australian that his company is echoing the famous television ads featuring Remington CEO Viktor Kiam who said in 1979, “I liked the shaver so much, I bought the company.”

“Crowdfunding is now becoming one of the more popular ways to raise capital and is especially suited to brands that fit within a niche consumer market. With potentially thousands of backers, it also means that investors get to share the journey with us and become part of what is known as the OSCAR Founders Club,“ he said.

“It’s a golden opportunity to take part in something special, and to see a much-loved Aussie brand make its mark overseas.

“Other companies like Tampon Tribe and Vampr were created by Australians, launched in the United States through successful campaigns on Wefunder and have since become multi-million-dollar enterprises.

“We aim to do the same with OSCAR in that we have found a unique gap in the market for quality, American-made razors and natural Australian shaving products.“

According to Mr de Vries, while OSCAR is up against the highly successful and cleverly marketed Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s, the former of which sold to Unilever for upwards of $1 billion, Mr de Vries says the OSCAR brand has a unique and winning combination.

“There is a huge trend for natural shaving products and many stores in America are really keen on natural, organic Australian men’s personal grooming products,” he says.

“Australia leads the way in creating some of the most popular and natural products available, with a focus on sustainability, organic botanicals and minimal-to-no chemical input.

“Combined with our American-made razor, which is deemed superior to Korean or German razors, we feel we have the right mix to fill a gap in the market.

“While it feels a little David vs. Goliath, we believe the Australian ‘true-blue’ enterprising spirit combined with a product that domestically has done really well, has put us in a strong position to cause a big stir in the American men’s grooming e-Commerce space.

“It’s also incredibly timely given the seismic shift to online shopping and online subscription-based services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People are no longer satisfied with buying the Gillettes of the world. They want a reliable, more affordable and personable product that they can stick with time and time again.”

The OSCAR Wefunder campaign officially launches on October 30.

David Swan 10am: Facebook bans anti-vax ads

Social media giant Facebook has launched a new global policy it says bans ads that discourage people from getting vaccines.

In a blog post, the company said it was revising a previous policy that banned ads identified as vaccine hoaxes by global health organisation.

“Now, if an ad explicitly discourages someone from getting a vaccine, we’ll reject it,” Facebook head of health Kang-Xing Jin and Facebook head of product management Rob Leathern said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of preventive health behaviours. While public health experts agree that we won’t have an approved and widely available COVID-19 vaccine for some time, there are steps that people can take to stay healthy and safe. That includes getting the seasonal flu vaccine.”

The company yesterday said it would ban Holocaust denialism, and last week said it would temporarily ban political ads in the US after polls close there on November 3.

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