After moving into sporting goods with a leading brand of sailboards in the late 1980s, the company also strengthened its position in stationery goods by purchasing Wite-Out Products, Inc. in 1992. Therefore, Gillette spent very little on advertising. fox, harriet lane. With strong profits and annual sales in excess of $500 million ($439.3 million in 1996), BIC Corporation handles all of the company's business in North and Central America. It pulled Cricket from the market and later sold the brand to Swedish Match Corporation, which licensed the lighter for distribution in the United States. Once they are filled, a robotic arm puts them in a centrifuge machine where all excess air is removed. . 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. The lighter allegedly exploded when it was dropped while lit. "eastern students plan pen protest." 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. "BIC Corporation The latch slid back into place automatically after each use. BIC also slashed the wholesale price of its lighters so they sold at retail for less than one dollar. Lighters continued to be profitable for BIC in spite of increasing competition from China and Thailand. ecolutions stic gopromotional phone: (203)783-2000 Productfron.com earns from qualifying purchases. Incorporated:, Biblioteca Nueva de Madrid (Freud, S., Obras Completas), Bibliographisches Institut & F.A. For example, in the early 1990s, the BIC Wavelengths line of pens and mechanical pencils was broadened to include new designs, including a heat-sensitive pen that changes color as it is held. In January 1997, BIC released a line of decorator pens featuring a wraparound PVC shrinkband printed with a universal product code (UPC) that allowed consumers to purchase the pens individually or in packs. Gillette leaders were incensed by the ads and asked the three major television networks not to run the commercials unless BIC could document its claims. We collect data for several years and some products 28 Jul. The name was later shortened to BIC Corporation. headquarters: 100 crystal a dr. packaging digest, january 1997. kaplan, andrew. 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. BICs products are primarily low-cost plastic items. Warner, Liz, Bic Scents a Quick Killing, Marketing, June 30, 1988, p. 1. 500 BIC DriveMilford, Connecticut 06460U.S.A. This action set off a fierce price war with Gillette. In its 1992 annual report, the company said it was vigorously appealing the verdict. The annual report went on to say, The legal expenses of defending product liability claims involving lighters continue to be heavy. ballpoint Armstrong, Jeffrey D., BIC Corp.: The Stock Will Strengthen as the Issue of Lighter Safety Fades, Barrens, October 12, 1987, p. 69. In 1949, Bich introduced the BIC ball-point pen (shortened from his name) in Europe. International Directory of Company Histories. The company was renamed the Waterman-BIC Pen Corporation, and its headquarters was moved to Milford, Connecticut. In 1992 BIC acquired Wite-Out Products Inc. and began selling a complete line of BIC Wite Out correction fluids. After a rocky start, Waterman-BIC established itself as the largest maker of ballpoint pens in the United States. 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. We are unable to constantly trace each product if it still manufactured in the same location as the year ago. In 1973, BIC Corporation introduced the BIC Lighter, which became the top-selling lighter in North America. some were manually collected from manufacturer or dealer websites, some were programmatically collected (860) 571-5100 In the 1950s, however, with the growing popularity of ballpoint pens, the company had begun to falter. bic ." Public Company clichy, france: societe bic, 1997. investigate companies by their standard industrial classification codes, also known as sics. The line included the BIC Shaver for Normal Skin, the BIC Lady Shaver, BIC Metal, BIC Pastel Shavers, and twin-blade products. 28 Jul. 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. (800) 562-8483 stic https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/economics-magazines/bic-corporation, "BIC Corporation bic ballpoint King C. Gillette had invented the safety razor in 1903, and the company he founded dominated the market for the next 70 years. 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. The newspaper also reported that the company agreed to pay $3.2 million in damages to a Pennsylvania woman who claimed her lighter ignited in a pocket while she was on a camping trip. 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. Also that year, BIC introduced a lighter with a child resistant catch, reportedly the result of a seven-year, $21 million development program. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. , $22M Campaign Urges: Spritz Your Bic, Advertising Age, February 20, 1989, p. 3. In February 1994, BIC Corporation launched its first-ever line of twin-blade disposable razors, including the BIC Twin Select and Twin Pastel. can be no longer manufactured. Going Bananas Over Bic, Time, December 18, 1972, p. 93. Not all our sources are equally reliable. the companys sales. "There is no ongoing testing," the statement says, contrary to PETA's claims. 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. By 1967 the company was turning out nearly 500 million pens annually, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the U.S. market. The correction fluid was subsequently reintroduced as BIC Wite-Out. During the trial, design engineers testified that BIC lighters occasionally leaked, and debris could cause the shut-off valve to fail. bic's primary sics are: "BIC Corporation There were also reports of BIC lighters flaring up while they were being used or accidentally igniting while lying on overheated automobile dashboards. Sales of the fragrances lasted longer in Europe, but were eventually dropped overseas as well in 1991. The company reported strong sales of its twin blade products in 1996. King, Resa W., Will $4 Perfume Do the Trick for Bic? Business Week, June 20, 1988, p. 89. The company developed and patented a child-resistant lighter design said to be superior to those of competitors' products. During the trial, design engineers testified that BIC lighters occasionally leaked, and debris could cause the shut-off valve to fail. url: http://www.bicworld.com http://www.qualitycomesinwriting.com. The whole process starts with huge 600 gallon tanks of BIC's own ink. A television ad campaign, with the slogan "Writes first time, every timeand for only 29 cents," was credited with creating broad appeal for the BIC pen in the United States. BIC introduced Wavelengths fashion pens and pencils to the United States in 1990, and they soon became very popular. 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. For a week, the company stonewalled, refusing to provide information or answer questions about the allegations amid rumors that thousands of lawsuits had been brought against the company and that a New Jersey congressperson was threatening to hold hearings on the safety of BIC lighters. Fox, Harriot Lane, Bic Launch Sets Off Razor Wars, Marketing, February 3, 1994, p. 2. Ownership: BIC Corporation is a privately held company and a subsidiary of Societe BIC SA, which is traded on the Paris Stock Exchange. Marketed under the name Parfum BIC, the fragrances were first introduced by Socit BIC, S.A. in Europe, where they were sold alongside other BIC products. After making the ink, tungsten carbide pellets are ground into finished balls. 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. Students practice writing skills as they decode, create, and write their own stories, study and write ballads, and keep a hypothetical journal for a famous person. BIC also broke out a new shaver, a twin-blade model. Combined, that's enough ink to cover the Great Wall of China almost 2 million times per day! the tattoo: a student publication of the bristol press, 7 april 1997. available at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/majerus_collins/bicpens.htm. The company has facilities in nine locations in North America, Guatemala, and Mexico. bic . After the merger, business did not change substantially at BIC Corporation. International Directory of Company Histories. In 1972, Time reported that Baron Bich has done for ballpoints what Henry Ford did for cars: he has produced a cheap but serviceable model. In 1974, a reporter for Forbes wrote, From the start, Bich concentrated on the cheap end of the marketbut with a difference. 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. Are the Talents Transferable?, Forbes, April 1, 1974, p. 62. Within ten years, Gillette would stop advertising its disposables to concentrate on its razor systems and replacement blades. In order to further educational development, BIC offers "Quality Comes in Writing," an educational program created for the company by Lifetime Learning Systems. Later that year, Time reported that BIC was test marketing a pens bic ballpoint clic chrome italy grey lot Armstrong, Jeffrey D., BIC Corp.: The Stock Will Strengthen as the Issue of Lighter Safety Fades, Barrons, October 12, 1987, p. 69. Students went ahead with the pen swap after hearing that Gillette (owned by Bic) and Pilot were both able to use older test data to get around the law requiring testing. Pilot donated pens for the product exchange. Earthlings, a student environmental group, sponsored a "pen swap" in hopes of encouraging peers to trade in BIC pens (the ink is tested on animals) with those from Pilot, one of the few writing instrument manufacturers that does not do animal testing. Ingrassia, Lawrence, Gillette Holds Its Edge by Endlessly Searching for a Better Shave, Wall Street Journal, December 10, 1992, p. A1. 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. 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. BIC Corporation's basic business strategy in the late 1990s was to produce and market low-cost, high-quality stationery products, lighters, and shavers. https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/bic-corporation, "BIC Corporation 2022 . 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. Another division, BIC Sports, was started up in 1981 to market sailboards; by 1996 BIC Sports was the world's leading sailboard company. of any new formulations for . As an Amazon Associate 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. bic The slogan "Flick my BIC" was particularly memorable. The case, Griggs v. BIC Corp., was remanded to a lower court that had originally dismissed the case. During the time that BIC and Gillette were battling over disposable lighters, the companies were also going head-to-head for a new segment of Gillettes traditional business, disposable shavers. Disposables were especially popular among teenagers, and women appreciated the BIC Lady Shaver, the first razor specially designed and marketed with them in mind. Extinguished: Gillette Puts Out Its Cricket, Time, October 15, 1984, p. 93. We only present information we were able to find 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). In its 1992 annual report, the company said it was vigorously appealing the verdict. The annual report went on to say, The legal expenses of defending product liability claims involving lighters continue to be heavy. Its pens, lighters, and shavers are typically the most affordable in their category, retailing for less than other brands. In response, BIC claimed in March 1997, that animal testing was required by law ". This action set off a fierce price war with Gillette. Gillette Challenges Bic To Verify Its Ad Claims, Business Week, March 19, 1979, p. 32. The company's 1997 acquisition of Schaeffer also helped increase Bic's market share by adding premium writing instruments to its product offerings. ballpoint bic Sales by foreign subsidiaries accounted for about 20 percent of BIC Corporation's sales in the mid-1990s. 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. Discovering the Potential in BIC, Business Week, July 30, 1979, p. 65. New products have long been a growth area for BIC Corporation, and the company continued to roll out many new products in the 1990s. Eventually, the company changed its tactics and revealed that there were 42 lawsuits then pending. Loctite Corp According to BIC, the company has defended itself in more than 50 lawsuits involving lighters between 1988 and 1993, losing only three. The program is designed to help students in grades 4 through 6 develop strong writing skills through interesting activities. They can find sex in a garage mechanic talking about shock absorbers. BIC introduced this lighter in 1973. The company brought out a correction pen in 1996, using technology gained from its earlier acquisition of Wite-Out. 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. This so-called Wavelengths line soon led the market in the fashion pen category. bic ballpoint gray 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). By the time his competitors figured out how to build an equally good pen for the price, Bich had a lock on the market.. 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. 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. Since requirements for designing a child-safe lighter were difficult to meet, Bicwith its patented designhad a competitive advantage over other producers. Sales of the fragrances lasted longer in Europe, but were eventually dropped overseas as well in 1991. bic stic on this page may not be the only place of production. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Again, a successful advertising campaign was credited with creating strong awareness and demand for the product. We do my best to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date, but this is not "BIC Corporation U.S.A. . The patented Child Guard lighter required that a safety latch be moved to the side and up before it would light. . U.S.A. BIC Corporation is the countrys leading manufacturer of disposable ballpoint pens and cigarette lighters. There were also reports of BIC lighters flaring up while they were being used or accidentally igniting while lying on overheated automobile dashboards. 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. Bichs U.S. managers urged him to make a more expensive ballpoint to compete with PaperMate, but Bich resisted. The company also changed the name of its Writing Instruments division to Stationery Products, indicating an intention to market an expanded line of stationery-related products, while continuing to expand its successful lines of pens, lighters, and shavers. During this time ballpoint pens, although still very expensive, were becoming popular in Europe, and the first ballpoint pens were introduced in the United States, selling for $12.50 each at New Yorks Gimbels Department Store. An Igniting Controversy, Time, April 20, 1987, p. 56. Scents and Sensibility, Time, May 20, 1991, p. 47. 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. You are going to do what you are told.. The companys great profitability seemed due to its efficient, low-cost manufacturing. 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. from these websites, some were sent by our visitors. From there they are shipped out all over the world. ." During this time BIC attempted a further diversification by launching a line of inexpensive, pocket-sized perfume spritzers in 1989. This site is for informational Even when the stocks of many name-brand consumer product manufacturers hit a bump in the summer of 1993, analysts predicted more rosy growth for BIC. stic Place of production of some other products can be changed. BIC has extensive manufacturing facilities in North and South America, including in Toronto, Canada; Milford, Connecticut; Clearwa-ter and St. Petersburg, Florida; Guatemala City, Guatemala; and Cuautitlan, Mexico. In 1971, Waterman-BIC became the BIC Pen Corporation, more accurately reflecting its business. 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. 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. Gillette Challenges Bic to Verify Its Ad Claims, Business Week, March 19, 1979, p. 32. bic corporation web site, june 1998. available at http://www.bicworld.com. ." Officers: Bruno Bich, Chmn. But by the end of 1978, BIC had surpassed Cricket, and in 1984, Gillette acknowledged defeat. By the mid-1990s lighters accounted for 24 percent of Employees are able to expand and grow with the company through their Employee Involvement Program in which individual ideas and suggestions are "recognized, implemented and rewarded.". bic headquarters: po box 21488 Sheaffer pens retailed from $25 to as much as $5,000 each, in stark contrast to BICs line, all of which sold for less than a couple of dollars. Bic monitors the entire manufacturing process, giving constant attention to the development and improvement of its products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission also adopted a child-resistant standard for disposable lighters that became effective in July 1994.