Over 70 years ago, someone came up a with a pretty good idea. So good it’s still used all over the world to this day.

“The BIC Cristal (stylised as BiC Cristal and also known as the Bic Biro) is an inexpensive, disposable ballpoint pen mass-produced and sold by Société Bic of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France. It was introduced in 1950 and is the best-selling pen in the world, with the 100 billionth sold in September 2006. It has become the archetypal ballpoint pen and is considered ubiquitous, to the extent that the Museum of Modern Art has made it a permanent part of its collection. Its hexagonal form and design mimics a standard pencil and it is sold in six types of point and 18 colours around the world.”

More on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bic_Cristal

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27 Comments

  1. Correction: at 5:25 I say "100 billion sales" but the graphic only shows 10 billion. That was a typo, the correct figure is 100,000,000,000. This was definitely the fault of somebody who isn't me.

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  2. I love the Cristal! It has an awesome story and a timeless design, it’s my favorite non-fountain pen. The Cristal, Pentel P205, LAMY 2000 and Pilot G2 are my favorite writing instruments, followed by the LAMY Safari.

  3. It’s said that the Americans spent a fortune developing a pen which can be used in zero gravity space and the Russians just used a pencil. That space pen can be bought from eBay, presumably almost always by people who won’t be using the pen in zero gravity.

  4. to EVERY 1 of yall self-righteous souls here in these comments who's comment unwarrantedly wanna admonish the perceived / alleged "blasphemy"/"taking the Lord's name in vain"…. I'm just curious to learn …JUST WHO TF granted y'all the moral superiority / spiritual authority to deem, with any level of validity, such an exclamation to be that which you've stated it to be.

    and y'all do this with complete, unquestioned, confidence too. 🤦🏻‍♀️

    well, bless y'alls little pitiful, unempathetic, hearts.

  5. As a small time YouTube creator I am compelled to say that the insertion of the bloopers at the end made my day! While the Bic story is captivating it is a wonder that a human can speak for 47 minutes with little hesitation, but cannot read 1,200 words aloud without stammering and swallowing spit and just gagging! Thank you for adding this side note to a great video! You have gained a sub! I carry a Bic "Round Stick" because I love to watch it role off my desk just as I notice it moving!

  6. Bet none of you know that the ink in bic pens is waterproof when left to dry and thusly suitable for use in watercolor illustration. The plastic empty barrel is also useful for the making of homemade pipes or bongs and also can be used in certain medical emergencies as well as being used as “pea shooters” in a boring classroom environment.

  7. They suck. I stopped buying them decades ago because they stop writing. My wife took a pen from work and I have been using it for about a year… still works great! It doesn't have a brand on it but it is great! And I use it quite often. Bichs last about a week…

  8. The Bic Boy's shoulder angles do not march because his left arm is lower than his right. This is to coincide with the slope of the background pen that he is holding.
    ~

  9. Actually, I believe that the Bic Roundstick is replacing the Cristal. The Roundstick is cheaper, it's sold at an average of $0.11 per pen vs $0.25 for the Cristal. Most people and companies just buy the cheaper ones nowadays.

  10. I didn't know it was that popular. That's surprising. It seems so wasteful. And wasting plastic feels wrong. Is it really cheaper than the refill for a normal, refillable ballpoint pen?

  11. Stopped watching this bs when tried to trash fountain pens. They are pure class, writes a better line than ball point and many are works of great art. Don't be so 50's man….

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