In the four decades since it first went on store shelves, the listed retail price of the iconic BIC butane lighter has risen from $1.49 to $1.69.
During the same time period, the price of gasoline went from about 40 cents to four dollars a gallon, a tenfold increase, according to BIC CEO Mario Guevara at the company’s “Flicktacular” celebration of the lighter’s 40th anniversary.
Guevara and other BIC officials held the event at the factory in Milford where 1.1 million BIC lighters are manufactured each day.
The highlight of the festivities — BIC presented the 11 winners of their 40th anniversary special edition design contest to commemorate the milestone.
“I’m sure you can tell how proud I am about the safety and quality of BIC lighters sold all around the world,” Guevara said.
Since it went on the market in 1973, originally sold in only five colors, the BIC lighter has been a spectacularly successful produce. It is the world’s top-selling butane lighter. BIC has sold more than 15 billion of them, and they are on sale in over 160 countries.
BIC employs about 270 people at its corporate headquarters on BIC Way in Shelton and about 140 people at its manufacturing facility on BIC Drive in Milford.
The mayors of both cities, numerous members of the state legislature, and Connecticut Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith also attended the “Flicktacular.”
Smith said she did an Internet search on the BIC lighter brand over the weekend and learned that the Urban Dictionary website even has an entry on the phrase “whatever flicks your BIC.”
Milford Mayor Ben Blake presented a proclamation naming March 11 as BIC Day in Milford, and read a letter from U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
“Who does not recognize your slogan, ‘Flick Your BIC?” asked Smith, who was there to represent Gov. Dannel Malloy.
Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti said over the weekend he rummaged through his basement and found a 30-year-old BIC lighter, and it still worked when he flicked it. “I, too, flick my BIC,” Lauretti said.
State Rep. Larry Miller, who represents the part of Shelton where the BIC headquarters is located, read a proclamation from the General Assembly in Hartford congratulating the company on its success with the lighter and its other products.
Chris Mills, president of BIC’s North America Consumer Products division, said the 11 design contest winners would have the pleasure of watching lighters with their art designs come off the assembly line for the first time following the “Flicktacular” celebration.
But first, each of the winners, who come from all around the country, got to have his or her picture taken with Guevara, Mills and BIC Boy, the company mascot.