Ownership: BIC Corporation is a privately held company and a subsidiary of Societe BIC SA, which is traded on the Paris Stock Exchange. The acquisition of Sheaffer put BIC in a better position against its long-time competitor Gillette, which had acquired two high-end pen companies several years earlier.
BIC, however, advertised heavily, again relying on catchy television commercials. bic corporation web site, june 1998. available at http://www.bicworld.com. "There is no ongoing testing," the statement says, contrary to PETA's claims.
The group got the information from the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Internet site, which contains information claiming BIC tests its ink in the eyes of rabbits and beagles. The slogan "Flick my BIC" was particularly memorable. Bich then turned his attention to marketing his products in the United States. We can't guarantee the completeness or accuracy of presented information. Gillette Challenges Bic to Verify Its Ad Claims, Business Week, March 19, 1979, p. 32. In another effort to establish a market in the United States, Waterman-BIC distributed its pens for sale in grocery stores and small shops near schools where students congregated, rather than in the department stores that carried more expensive pens. Company Profiles for Students. In the early 1960s Waterman-BIC launched an aggressive television advertising campaign that boasted that BIC pens would write First Time, Every Time. To prove that a 29 BIC pen would perform as well as pens costing several times more, the commercials showed BIC pens still working after being drilled through wallboard, shot from guns, fire-blasted, and strapped to the feet of ice skaters. Disposables were especially popular among teenagers, and women appreciated the BIC Lady Shaver, the first razor specially designed and marketed with them in mind. The name was later shortened to BIC Corporation.
Encyclopedia.com. (July 28, 2022). International Directory of Company Histories. Another part of BIC Corporation's strategy was to grow through acquisitions.
packaging digest, january 1997. kaplan, andrew.
Although it stumbled again briefly in September following the airing of the ABC television program 20/20, which featured a story on lighter safety, the stock was back to $31 per share by October. In 1949, Bich introduced the BIC ball-point pen (shortened from his name) in Europe. One of Bic's most successful product introductions was its "wrapped product," which consisted of a BIC disposable lighter with a decorative plastic wrap adhered to the body of the lighter. Hershey Foo, 1221 Broadway Street Fax: (860) 571-5465 You are going to do what you are told.. BICs lighter is the top-selling lighter in North America, first popularized in the 1970s with the slogan Rick my BIC. BIC also makes correction fluid and correction pens and has acquired a premium pen manufacturer, Sheaffer. After the merger, business did not change substantially at BIC Corporation. Kalita, S. Mitra, Bic Agrees To Acquire Sheaffer in Bid, Wall Street Journal, August 1, 1997, p. A9B.
After making the ink, tungsten carbide pellets are ground into finished balls. Starting To Click; Mainstay Products Help BIC Mark Profit Gains, Barrons, June 23, 1986, p. 52. ProductFrom.com is a participant in the Having weathered fierce competitive battles for three decades, BIC faced perhaps its most serious threat in April 1987 when the New York Times reported that at least three people had died because BIC lighters had malfunctioned. It is available to teachers at no charge on the program's Web site at http://www.qualitycomesinwriting.com. In the disposable razor market, BIC Corporation continued to seek new markets by expanding its product line in the early to mid-1990s. disposable lighter that could provide 3,000 lights before wearing out. Despite an ad campaign that Advertising Age estimated as costing $22 million, touting the fragrances as Paris in your pocket, Parfum BIC lasted less than a year in the United States.
Incorporated:, Biblioteca Nueva de Madrid (Freud, S., Obras Completas), Bibliographisches Institut & F.A. International Directory of Company Histories. Once they are filled, a robotic arm puts them in a centrifuge machine where all excess air is removed. In June 1992, the company acquired Wite-Out Products Inc., the second-largest manufacturer of correction fluid, for $19.9 million in cash. Langway, Lynn, Razor Fighting, Newsweek, November 22, 1976, p. 103. In the 1950s, however, with the growing popularity of ballpoint pens, the company had begun to falter. & COO. Later that year, Time reported that BIC was test marketing a Called BICsusing the phonetic spelling of Bichs namethe pens were of a simple design, nonretractable with clear plastic barrels, and sold for around 19 cents each.
BIC marketed a line of fashion pens, featuring bright colors and graphics wrapped around the barrel, to appeal to children and teenagers. Ingrassia, Lawrence, Gillette Holds Its Edge by Endlessly Searching for a Better Shave, Wall Street Journal, December 10, 1992, p. A1. Another significant development in the late 1990s was BICs acquisition of Sheaffer Group in 1997.
Ingrassia, Lawrence, Gillette Holds Its Edge By Endlessly Searching For a Better Shave, Wall Street Journal, December 10, 1992, p. Al. 
BIC Corporation is the countrys leading manufacturer of disposable ballpoint pens and cigarette lighters. The company reported its highest ever sales and earnings in 1992, and moved its trading from the American Stock Exchange to the New York Stock Exchange. The patented Child Guard lighter required that a safety latch be moved to the side and up before it would light. Not all our sources are equally reliable. The company developed and patented a child-resistant lighter design said to be superior to those of competitors' products.
Pens comprise about half of the companys production, as well as half of its sales and earnings. BIC introduced Wavelengths fashion pens and pencils to the United States in 1990, and they soon became very popular. BIC traces its beginnings to 1945, when Marcel Bich, a former production manager for a French ink manufacturer, purchased a factory outside Paris with partner Edouard Buffard to make fountain pen parts and mechanical lead pencils. Company Profiles for Students. The offer came at a time when there was some speculation that rising plastic prices might cut into BIC Corporations profit margins. However, Gillette seriously underestimated the demand for disposable razors. BIC Corporation's status as a good corporate citizen was on shaky ground in the eyes of some students, however. According to BIC, the company has defended itself in more than 50 lawsuits involving lighters between 1988 and 1993, losing only three. Many of BIC Corporation's writing instruments were tailored for specific age ranges or population categories. . We only present information we were able to find In 1982, with revenues approaching $220 million, BIC acknowledged its expanding status as a leading maker of lighters and shavers by dropping pen from its name to become, officially, BIC Corporation. Company Profiles for Students. Bruno Bich, Marcels son, who became president of the U.S. subsidiary in 1982, later told Investor Relations that, With hindsight we should have given out more information and done it faster to avoid the inaccuracies and exaggerations that appeared in the press.. In the early to mid-1990s, BIC Corporation was also able to revitalize its writing instrument sales by applying the same line extension strategy used for its lighter products (the application of decorative wraps).
In 1958 Bich agreed to purchase 60 percent of the company for $1 million. During this time Dupont explored the possibilities of marketing a disposable lighter, developing an inexpensive disposable lighter called Cricket, which it introduced in the United States in 1972. The pen was successful in Europe, and in 1958 Bich purchased the Waterman Pen Company, based in Seymour, Connecticut, to gain access to the U.S. market. But let somebody say, Flick my Bic,this is beautifully obsceneeveryone nods their heads and lets that go, because well, we know you cant possibly mean that, that would be obscene.. By the end of 1979, Gillette and BIC each controlled about 50 percent of the market for disposables, which had grown to represent 20 percent of the total market for wet-shave razors. headquarters: po box 21488 At the time, lighters accounted for about 40 percent of BICs revenues, and the day the story appeared, BIC stock fell 25 percent, from $32 to $24 per share. Going Bananas Over Bic, Time, December 18, 1972, p. 93. First Bich expanded his business to include the manufacture of plastic barrels for ballpoint pen companies, and then, in 1949, he introduced his own line of ballpoint pens. In 1963 Waterman-BIC, which later became BIC Corporation, moved into new facilities in Mil-ford, Connecticut. the companys sales.
As of 1993, BIC Corporation accounted for 11 percent of the U.S. shaver market measured in revenues and 22.6 percent of the market measured in unit volume (due to the lower price of BIC shavers). However, the issue of safety became even more convoluted in 1992 when a U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled that manufacturers of products completely safe when used as intended may also have an obligation to make the product safe in unconventional circumstances. There were also reports of BIC lighters flaring up while they were being used or accidentally igniting while lying on overheated automobile dashboards. Retrieved July 28, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/economics-magazines/bic-corporation. In 1985, however, the company was forced to stop selling the sailboard in the United States when a U.S. District Court ruled that BIC had infringed on a patent owned by Windsurfing International. According to one market analyst, while this was an expensive process, it helped dramatically reduce the number of new claims filed against BIC Corporation. url: http://www.bicworld.com http://www.qualitycomesinwriting.com. By then BIC had also taken a tentative step into sports equipment. headquarters: 100 crystal a dr.
." At the time BIC controlled about 65 percent of the market for disposable lighters. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html, 86% Owned Subsidiary of Socit BIC, SA.Incorporated: 1958 as Waterman-BIC Pen CorporationEmployees: 2,700Sales: $1.2 billion (1996)SICs: 3951 Pens & Mechanical Pencils; 3999 Manufacturing Industries, Not Elsewhere Classified; 3421 Cutlery.
In 1993, BIC released a new series of limited edition, marble-finish lighters and a line of sports lighters featuring color illustrations of baseball, football, auto racing, boating, and other sports. The correction fluid was subsequently reintroduced as BIC Wite-Out. that change in a timely manner. During the trial, design engineers testified that BIC lighters occasionally leaked, and debris could cause the shut-off valve to fail. Analysts were skeptical whether U.S. consumers would accept an inexpensive French perfume since part of the appeal of French perfumes lay in their image as luxurious and expensive. All trademarks and registered trademarks appearing Encyclopedia.com. BIC Corporation's policy was to litigate rather than settle all product liability claims. 500 BIC DriveMilford, Connecticut 06460U.S.A. Place of production of some other products can be changed. As of 1998, the company manufactured about 3.0 million ballpoint pens, 2.5 million shavers, and 1.0 million lighters per day. In 1998, BIC purchased the Sheaffer Pen Corporation, a Fort Madison, Iowa-based manufacturer. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). The issue of safety became even more convoluted in 1992, however, when a U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled that manufacturers of products completely safe when used as intended may also have an obligation to make the product safe in unconventional circumstances. International Directory of Company Histories.
Part of our data can be outdated. They founded the company that would later become Bic. Writing about network censors in The Best Thing On TV: Commercials, Jonathan Price remarked, They absolutely do not see sex in advertising if its blatant. BIC Velocity Max Pencil, 0.7 mm, HB (#2), Black Lead, Assorted Barrel Colors, 5/Pack, BIC Velocity Max Pencil, 0.5 mm, HB (#2), Black Lead, Gray Barrel, 2/Pack, BIC Velocity Max Pencil, 0.7 mm, HB (#2.5), Black Lead, Assorted Barrel Colors, 2/Pack, BIC Velocity Max Pencil, 0.5 mm, HB (#2), Black Lead, Assorted Barrel Colors, 5/Pack, BIC Velocity Side Clic Pencil, 0.7 mm, HB (#2), Black Lead, Assorted Barrel Colors, Dozen, BIC Velocity Max Pencil, 0.9 mm, HB (#2), Black Lead, Assorted Barrel Colors, 2/Pack, BIC Velocity Side Clic Pencil, 0.5 mm, HB (#2), Black Lead, Assorted Barrel Colors, Dozen, BIC Atlantis Stick Ballpoint Pen, Medium 1mm, Black Ink/Barrel, Dozen (VSG11BK), BIC Antimicrobial Mechanical Pencils (MPCMAP4), BIC Brite Liner Retractable Highlighters (BLR11YWDZ), BIC VCGN11BK Atlantis Exact Retractable Ballpoint Pen, BIC VCGUP11BK Atlantis Ultra Comfort Retractable Ballpoint Pen. The machines shape the outside of the pens. In 1982 the company introduced the BIC Sailboard, which quickly became the North American market leader. In 1982, the company introduced the BIC Sailboard, which quickly became the North American market leader.
This strengthened BICs position in the correction products market. Welles, Chris, The War of the Razors, Esquire, February 1980, p. 29. Within ten years, Gillette would stop advertising its disposables to concentrate on its razor systems and replacement blades.
According to the company, BIC invests heavily in employee training and technology. . The company was a Wall Street favorite. The Waterman Pen Company in Seymour, Connecticut, was founded by Lewis E. Waterman, an American insurance salesperson and part-time inventor, who developed the first practical fountain pen in 1884. BIC alleged that imports from China and Thailand were being sold at below market value, with lighters going for as little as six cents each wholesale, and the numbers of such cheap lighters were increasing yearly.
"BIC Corporation For example, while in the early 1990s BIC Corporation was said to have lost market share to cheaper (and lower-quality) imported Asian lighters, the company was able to reverse the trend by implementing more effective marketing and introducing value-added, higher-margin product line extensions.
It was the fifth-largest pen manufacturer in the world, and this acquisition added premium writing instruments to Bic's line of product offerings. Whereas early ballpoint pens were known to clog and leak, Bichs pens proved reliable and achieved immediate success in Europe with annual sales exceeding $5 million by 1955. We collect data for several years and some products In 1994 BIC filed a petition with the Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission asking to impose antidumping duties against disposable lighters from these two countries. Oakland, California 94612
Another division, BIC Sports, was started up in 1981 to market sailboards; by 1996 BIC Sports was the world's leading sailboard company. Then in 1975, BICs parent corporation, the French Socit BIC, S.A., introduced a disposable plastic shaver in Europe.
However, that name soon became outdated as the company embarked on its first diversification. Anticipating that BIC would next bring out the shaver in the United States, Gillette quickly introduced its own disposable razor dubbed Good News! in 1976, a full year before the BIC shaver made its American debut. The Pennsylvania case was the first involving BIC to go to trial, and the Times reported that although claims began to trickle in soon after Bic introduced its throwaway lighters in 1972, the company has until recently been able to keep the cases quiet by settling them out of court. The newspaper stated that BIC had settled more than 20 cases for amounts ranging from $5,000 to almost $500,000. In the early 1960s Waterman-BIC launched an aggressive television advertising campaign that boasted that BIC pens would write First Time, Every Time. To prove that a 29 cent BIC pen would perform as well as pens costing several times
International Directory of Company Histories. International Directory of Company Histories.
Moskowitz, Daniel, Courts Tackle Safety Liability in Product Design, Washington Post, February 8, 1993, p. WB11. The program contains four Activity Masters, which can be copied so students can use them as worksheets; a Teacher's Guide that includes a list of the program's objectives, suggestions for introducing activities, and follow-up activities; a poster of writing hints for classroom display; and 30 take-home booklets to promote parental involvement in the writing process outside the classroom. Also that year, BIC introduced a lighter with a child resistant catch, reportedly the result of a seven-year, $21 million development program.
The ruling involved a case in which a three-year-old child took a BIC lighter from his fathers pants pocket and set fire to an infants bedclothes. Furthermore, it was not eager to see customers switch from its reusable razor systems to its disposables, since Good News! Gillette Challenges Bic To Verify Its Ad Claims, Business Week, March 19, 1979, p. 32.
In December 1995 BIC Corporation ceased trading as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange.
. phone: (203)783-2000 Waterman-Bic Pen Corp.: On the Ball with the Ball-point, Nations Business, December 1970, p. 72. & CEO; Raymond Winter, Pres. BIC takes great care in making and packaging their world-renowned ball-point pens; each pen gets special attention. BIC planned to continue to market the Sheaffer pens under the Sheaffer name. sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
To compete with Gillette, which was solidly entrenched as the market leader, BIC again turned to creative television advertising. According to the ads, 58 percent of the participants claimed that there was no difference between the BIC shave and the Gillette shave.
BIC reintroduced the sailboard to the U.S. market when the patent expired in 1987.
clichy, france: societe bic, 1997. investigate companies by their standard industrial classification codes, also known as sics. distribution journal, 15 april 1996. societe bic 1996 annual report. Marcel Bich and Edouard Bufford start making pen parts in France, Purchases the Waterman Pen Company located in Seymour, Connecticut, to become Waterman-BIC, BIC pens are introduced into the U.S. market, BIC Pen Corp. becomes a publicly traded company, BIC Sports becomes the world's leading sailboard company; introduces the Wite-Out Pen. That name soon became outdated, however, as the company embarked on its first diversification. The patented Child Guard lighter required that a safety latch be moved to the side and up before it would light.