Combs Ain't What They Used To Be
Jun. 8th, 2021 10:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerDating back to when I first started carrying and using a pocket comb decades ago, two things defined my experience. One, the combs had the word UNBREAKABLE stamped on them. Two, much like their label promised, they didn't break. I'd have to replace one every 5-10 years because I lost it.
Combs aren't like that anymore.
I don't see combs stamped UNBREAKABLE right on the plastic anymore. Oh, they come in packaging that says "Unbreakable!" on the label, but like most things with marketing labels it's... an aspirational statement. (Translation: a special legal category for literal lie that won't be prosecuted as misrepresentation.)
I bought a comb 18 months ago in packaging marked "Unbreakable!" It literally snapped in half minutes after I opened the package. The picture above shows the next comb I bought after that, after 17 months of gentle use. Once the teeth started falling out after about 15 months the deterioration accelerated. It'd lose a tooth or two a week; lately it lost a tooth or two a day until I decided to throw it out.
Combs aren't like that anymore.
I don't see combs stamped UNBREAKABLE right on the plastic anymore. Oh, they come in packaging that says "Unbreakable!" on the label, but like most things with marketing labels it's... an aspirational statement. (Translation: a special legal category for literal lie that won't be prosecuted as misrepresentation.)
I bought a comb 18 months ago in packaging marked "Unbreakable!" It literally snapped in half minutes after I opened the package. The picture above shows the next comb I bought after that, after 17 months of gentle use. Once the teeth started falling out after about 15 months the deterioration accelerated. It'd lose a tooth or two a week; lately it lost a tooth or two a day until I decided to throw it out.
