By Patrick Avenell

SYDNEY, NSW: The 2010 World Cup is expected to deliver big sales spikes for TVs, home theatre systems and PVRs, but there’s another category slowly positioning itself for a blast in popularity: male grooming.

With all the world’s best young footballers strutting the verdant stage in South Africa, the lads from Brazil, Italy and France will all be putting on a show to see who has got the best haircut, facial growth and overall sex appeal. David Beckham started this trend with his skunk Mohawk in Korea/Japan, and his contemporaries will be following the tradition once the tournament starts on 11 June 2010.

One company set to capitalise on this trend is Philips, which itself has strong links, through PSV Eindhoven, to the round ball game. The Dutch male grooming specialists are set to release a dedicated stubble trimmer, which is being marketed as the perfect tool for creating a 3-day beard.

“The Philips Stubble Trimmer exclusive comb design follows the contours of the face for a precise and even trim,” said Philips business manager Roni Robertson. “It allows you to safely trim your hair as short as you desire as the exclusive comb design avoids contact between the blade and your skin, at any length even at 1 millimetre.

“It has nine precision lock-in length settings from 1 to 18 millimetres and the comb can be easily removed for sideburn touch ups and other detailing.”

According to Robertson, the total male grooming market in Australia has almost doubled over the past four years, from $19 million in 2007 to $37 million in 2010.