Perhaps you work from home and realized that you can be lazy more productive by not shaving every day. Or perhaps I'm you're part of a protest movement and didn't even realize it. Salon owner Rodney Cutler , "grooming editor" for Esquire and brand spokesman for Norelco , tells Advertising Age "he believes more men are letting it all grow out as an act of 'playful rebellion,' a sign of defiance and of not being a 'corporate slave.'" Sales of electric groomers rose 3% last year, and beard trimming kits rose 4%. Norelco itself saw a 24% rise in sales of groming producst. So c an we now look at a Beard Index as an economic indicator to rival the popular Lipstick Index ? Or is this just savvy marketing on the part of Norelco? Both? Read the AdAge article here .