Among corporate giants, there are some whose advertising slogans have passed into the language, marking both company and product uniquely part of our culture. To have attained that goal for one product is exceptional. To do it for several is almost unheard of. Yet that's the case with BIC Corporation, whose products are writing instruments (ball pens, markers, rollers, pencils), butane lighters, and shavers. Who among us does not know that we can produce a flame with a "Flick of my BIC", or that BIC pens write "The First Time, Every Time", or that shaving with a BIC disposable is a "Stroke of Genius"?

The original company was established in Paris in 1945 in an empty plant with no machines, no products, no customers, and very little capital. Yet within 30 years, founder Marcel Bich (pronounced BIC) had parlayed it into a multi-million-dollar international giant, whose products are household words. Remember the first ball-point pen, the "Reynolds"? It cost $12.50, and basically didn't work. But the handwriting was on the wall. By 1949 Bic was ready with a better product, at prices which, through innovative mass production, soon dropped to pennies.

Within two years the BIC ball-point was selling 21 million units; two years later 42 million units annually, including sales of 6 million outside of France. By 1963 it was selling 50 million units a year in the U.S. alone, and the BIC "torture test" was as familiar to television viewers as the names and faces of famous stars. Today, BIC has subsidiaries in over 20 countries throughout the world. Its Canadian division, BIC Inc., established in 1967, was manufacturing a full line of pens by mid-1973. Within two years it doubled the size of its Toronto plant to meet the demand for its writing instruments.

In 1973 BIC introduced the first practical version of a disposable pocket lighter to the American market, and by 1976 one out of every two lightercarrying Canadians was "Flicking a BIC". Today Canadians can choose between the BIC Lighter and its compact version, the Mini BIC which has grown steadily in popularity since its introduction in 1985.

BIC introduced its first disposable shaver in 1976, and since then has developed a line of exclusively disposable shavers. In one "Stroke of Genius", BIC Shavers have eliminated the need to change blades and "the pulls and cuts of outrageous fortune" from misaligned razors. Today, BIC is a leader in the blade business with its three entries: BIC Shaver, BIC Shaver for Sensitive Skin, and BIC Lady Shaver. Today, BIC is still developing new products and tapping new markets. For example, BIC Sport in Canada distributes sailboards and the BIC SportRack, a car-top carrier system, two very popular products in the leisure industry.

Like most consumer products companies, BIC makes and sells its products in a highly competitive marketplace. From the beginning, Marcel Bich set the tone and pace for BIC employees: make and sell quality consumer products that offer maximum service at a minimum fair price.