- Total code: it turns out the "Five Star" line of Wahl clippers is the brand for thick, dense hair and thick beards prone to ingrown hairs. This isn't a bad approach since it doesn't imply that the line is solely for one hair type or one race. But it takes a while to catch on to. (And the other Wahl lines have completely different names - there isn't a Six Star or Four Star line, etc.)
- Total race: Oster has both an "Afro-American" line and an "ethnic" line. This approach is offensive in part because it is simply inaccurate. It's skittish and inaccurate enough that "black" would have been better by a tad. But only a tad: the trouble here is that hair type is being conflated with (rather than simply associated with) race. The only virtue of this approach is that it suggests what the better alternative would be.
- Total substance: Andis gives their clippers names, but prominent on the packages are what the clippers do: "Balding trimmer for thick, curly beards"; "All-day use clipper for any human hair"; "cut-down t-clipper for barber or veterinary use". This is clear, and it is focused on function: what do clippers deal with - various manipulations of hair of various types.
Good job, Andis. Second place to Wahl, since the total code approach does suggest that the specialized buyer (barbers, mostly) may know how a tool may be adapted to uses not anticipated by its maker. And Oster simply fails.
All in all, a really fine example of how especially accuracy, sometimes avoidance, but not obscurity, are the havens in which true respect of others is found.
