What made Parfums Bic remarkable in 1988 was not merely that a maker of disposable pens and lighters had entered the fragrance market, but that it attempted to challenge nearly every accepted rule of the perfume industry. BIC, known internationally for practical, inexpensive everyday products, envisioned fragrance as something that could be treated like any other essential consumer item: useful, accessible, and purchased without ceremony. The concept emerged from the idea that perfume should not belong exclusively behind department store glass counters or in luxury boutiques. Instead, fragrance could become as ordinary and available as a pen picked up at checkout or a lighter purchased at a corner store.
To support this ambitious vision, Bic invested heavily in infrastructure and production. The perfumes were imported from France and manufactured in a custom-built $25 million factory in Tréport, outside Paris near the Saint-Gobain industrial complex. Rather than treating the project as a novelty or side experiment, the company committed significant resources to creating genuine perfume products with respectable quality standards. The fragrances themselves were developed by the prestigious fragrance house Firmenich in France, a notable detail because Firmenich was already responsible for creating fragrances for many luxury brands. Bic therefore was not attempting to imitate prestige perfumery with inexpensive approximations; it was employing the same professional perfumers and technical expertise used by the high-end fragrance world.
The original collection consisted of four scents: Jour, Nuit, Homme, and Sport. Their names reflected a straightforward and practical approach that mirrored Bic’s broader brand identity. Jour (“Day”) suggested freshness and brightness suited to daytime wear, while Nuit (“Night”) implied something richer and more sensual for evening use. Homme served as the classic masculine offering, and Sport emphasized activity, energy, and casual use. The fragrances were first introduced across France, Belgium, and Italy before Bic prepared for a larger expansion into the American market in 1989. During this transition, certain names were altered for U.S. consumers: Homme became Bic for Men, while Sport became Bic Sport for Men, likely to make their purpose immediately understandable to American shoppers.
The marketing strategy was as radical as the fragrances themselves. Bic invested approximately $15 million in advertising and promotional efforts and aimed particularly at women between eighteen and forty years old. Yet rather than pursuing luxury positioning, Bic embraced convenience and spontaneity. The perfumes were deliberately placed in supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores, and large retail chains — the same environments where consumers already purchased Bic pens, razors, and lighters. The company viewed perfume as an impulse purchase: perhaps a quick gift while shopping, an inexpensive personal treat, or even a practical solution for someone rushing out the door who realized they had forgotten to apply fragrance.
The packaging reinforced this philosophy. Instead of crystal flacons and velvet presentation boxes, Parfums Bic appeared in uncomplicated blister packs similar to other everyday consumer goods. The presentation sacrificed ceremony for practicality. A quarter-ounce bottle sold for only five dollars, an almost astonishing price when viewed against the prestige fragrance market of the late 1980s. At the time, leading perfumes commanded dramatically higher prices: Chanel No. 5 sold for approximately sixty dollars, while other contemporary competitors such as Obsession, Opium, Giorgio, and Joy occupied similarly expensive territory. Bic believed this disparity represented an opportunity: why should authentic French perfume remain financially out of reach for many consumers?
Company representatives framed Parfums Bic as a democratization of luxury. They presented it not as “cheap perfume,” but as “fine French perfume” made accessible through modern manufacturing and unconventional retail methods. Their slogan captured this shift perfectly: “We're taking fine French perfume out of the bedroom and into the on-the-go world.” The statement reflected a broader late-1980s consumer trend toward convenience, portability, and practicality. Whether fragrance traditionalists embraced the concept or not, Parfums Bic represented one of the fragrance industry's more daring experiments: an attempt to transform perfume from an aspirational luxury into an everyday necessity.
The Bottles:
The bottles themselves were among the most memorable aspects of the Parfums Bic experiment because they translated the company's industrial identity directly into perfume design. Rather than adopting the traditional vocabulary of perfumery — crystal flacons, decorative stoppers, faceted glass, or jewel-like presentation — Bic embraced the aesthetic language of its own products. The fragrances were housed in sleek, spill-proof containers modeled after butane cigarette lighters, creating an immediately recognizable object that felt practical and modern. The design reflected the late-1980s fascination with portability and convenience, transforming perfume from a delicate luxury item into something intended to travel effortlessly in a handbag, pocket, glove compartment, or desk drawer..
Each fragrance could be identified by a distinctive cap color that acted almost like a visual code system. Jour carried a bright red cap, conveying warmth, daytime energy, and vitality. Nuit featured a blue cap, an obvious reference to evening skies and nighttime sophistication. Homme was topped with black, reinforcing a classic masculine seriousness, while Sport used green to suggest freshness, activity, and movement. The colors were functional rather than decorative excess; customers could immediately identify their fragrance at a glance. This simple system mirrored Bic's broader design philosophy, where utility and clarity took precedence over ornamentation.
The construction of the packaging also reflected serious industrial collaboration rather than inexpensive novelty manufacturing. The unbreakable bottles were produced by Saint-Gobain, a major French manufacturer known for expertise in glass and industrial materials, while the caps were produced by Sofab SA. The emphasis on durability was important because perfume bottles had traditionally been viewed as fragile luxury objects requiring careful handling. Bic instead designed a container that could survive daily use and transportation without concern. The bottle was intended to behave more like a practical personal accessory than a precious decorative object.
The atomizer mechanism itself also represented a departure from conventional fragrance packaging. Bic engineered its pump to emit approximately one-third less fragrance than a standard atomizer while still allowing roughly 300 sprays from each bottle. The reduced output was not intended as cost-cutting but as a matter of efficiency. By concentrating the fragrance and delivering smaller, controlled applications, the design minimized waste and extended the product's lifespan. The consumer was meant to receive the same olfactory impact with less product dispersed into the air. It reflected a practical engineering mindset rarely associated with perfume: precise, economical, and functional.
Taken together, the bottle embodied Bic's central argument that fine fragrance could be reimagined for modern life. Company promotional materials described it as “the world's first fine French perfume that combined high quality with affordable pricing and stylish portable design.” In many ways, the packaging became the physical expression of the entire Parfums Bic philosophy: luxury stripped of ceremony, refined fragrance placed into an object designed not for display on a vanity table, but for movement through everyday life.
The Fragrances:
Bic Nuit:
Bic Nuit is warm, spicy floral oriental fragrance for women.
- Top notes: mandarin
- Middle notes: ylang-ylang, carnation, rose, jasmine
- Base notes: spices, amber, vanilla, musk
Bic Nuit opens with a warmth that feels softer and more intimate than many oriental fragrances of the late 1980s. Instead of exploding with aldehydes or sharp citrus brightness, the fragrance begins with mandarin, a citrus note possessing a gentler and more rounded personality than lemon or bergamot. Smelling mandarin first hand is like peeling a perfectly ripe fruit and releasing a fine mist of essential oil from its skin. The aroma carries sparkling sweetness, juicy orange flesh, and a faint floral quality that softens its tartness. Perfumers often favored Mediterranean mandarins—particularly from Italy—because of their balance between sweetness and acidity, possessing a richer, more honeyed character than many other citrus varieties. Mandarin's purpose here is not simply freshness; it acts like the final amber glow of sunset before darkness settles in, a brief radiant warmth before the deeper floral heart unfolds.
The transition into the floral center is where Bic Nuit begins revealing its oriental personality. The ylang-ylang emerges first, lush and creamy, smelling almost narcotic in its richness. Genuine ylang-ylang from the Comoros and Madagascar has traditionally been prized in perfumery because the tropical climate creates flowers with exceptional depth and creamy intensity. If you smell fresh ylang blossoms, you encounter something almost contradictory: ripe bananas drizzled with custard, jasmine petals, warm skin, and a faint medicinal sweetness. It can be simultaneously exotic and comforting. In perfumes, ylang often requires careful balancing because too much can become heavy and almost overripe. Here it likely acts as a bridge between the bright mandarin and the darker oriental base.
The carnation adds a very different floral texture. Unlike rose or jasmine, carnations yield relatively little usable essential oil, and their scent is difficult to capture accurately through extraction. As a result, perfumers have historically recreated carnation through aroma molecules. The most important among these is eugenol, naturally present in cloves but often synthesized for consistency. Smelling eugenol on its own reveals something warm and spicy: clove buds, cinnamon warmth, and a peppery floral sensation. Isoeugenol often accompanies it, adding sweeter, softer carnation-like nuances. Together these molecules create the illusion of living carnations — cool flower petals dusted with clove spice. Their synthetic construction actually enhances realism, because nature alone cannot fully provide the fragrance profile perfumers desire. In Bic Nuit, carnation introduces a spicy pulse beneath the flowers, preventing the heart from becoming overly soft or sweet.
Rose appears next, contributing familiar elegance but likely in a reconstructed form rather than relying solely upon natural rose oil. True rose oils, especially from Bulgaria or Turkey, possess a multifaceted beauty often surprising to those who have never smelled them raw. Real rose essence is not merely "rose-like"; it carries honey, lemon, green leaves, pepper, and faint waxy undertones. To amplify natural rose, perfumers frequently use molecules such as phenylethyl alcohol, which smells like fresh dewy rose petals and contributes brightness, and citronellol, offering rosy sweetness with subtle citrus freshness. These synthetics do not replace natural rose so much as enlarge it, making the flower appear more vivid and expansive, almost like increasing the contrast and saturation in a photograph.
Jasmine deepens the floral heart with sensuality. Natural jasmine absolute, especially from Egypt or India, is among perfumery's most extraordinary materials. Smelling it first hand can be startling because it contains animalic and indolic aspects beneath its floral sweetness. Alongside white petals and nectar you may notice traces of warm skin, tea, banana, and even a slight breath-like richness. Perfumers enhance jasmine with molecules such as hedione, famous for its luminous, transparent jasmine quality. Hedione smells airy and radiant rather than heavy, giving flowers a sense of diffusion and space. Instead of adding more floral density, it creates the illusion that the jasmine is floating around you. This marriage of natural jasmine and modern aroma chemistry produces a floral heart that feels simultaneously richer and lighter.
As the fragrance settles, the floral bouquet sinks into warm spices, amber, vanilla, and musk. The listed spices likely continue the carnation's clove-like effect and may suggest cinnamon, nutmeg, or soft pepper notes. Amber in perfumery is not a natural extraction from fossilized amber stone; it is an accord created from materials such as labdanum, vanilla, benzoin, and synthetic molecules. It smells like warm skin after sunlight, sweet resins, golden warmth, and soft powder. Vanilla contributes creamy sweetness, but natural vanilla absolute from places such as Madagascar is exceptionally prized because of its rich concentration of vanillin alongside darker nuances of tobacco, wood, and dried fruits. Synthetic vanillin and ethyl vanillin amplify these qualities, making the sweetness larger and more radiant without sacrificing the natural warmth.
Finally, musk wraps around everything like fabric warmed by body heat. By the late 1980s, natural animal musk had long been abandoned, replaced by synthetic musks. This was both ethical and artistic because synthetic musks created effects impossible with natural material alone. Ingredients such as galaxolide contribute clean, soft laundry-like warmth, while others may lend powdery skin-like softness. Rather than presenting themselves as distinct smells, musks work almost invisibly, blurring sharp edges and causing all of the preceding flowers and spices to melt together.
Bic Nuit ultimately feels like an evening fragrance in the truest sense of its name. It begins with the last glow of sunset citrus, moves through candlelit bouquets of tropical flowers and spice-laced petals, and finally settles into warm amber and soft musk that linger like perfume absorbed into silk after a long night out. It carries the familiar richness of late-1980s orientals, but with enough floral luminosity to keep the darkness warm rather than heavy.
Bic Jour:
Bic Jour is a light fruity floral fragrance for women.
- Top notes: fruity
- Middle notes: green
- Base notes: woody
Bic Jour feels almost like the olfactory opposite of Nuit. If Nuit evokes evening lamps glowing through apartment windows and warm amber shadows, Jour—its name literally meaning "Day"—suggests the first light of morning spilling through open curtains. The note structure is deceptively simple: fruity, green, and woody. Yet perfumes built around broad categories rather than specific flowers or fruits often rely heavily on perfumers' artistry and aroma chemistry, because they seek to create an atmosphere rather than recreate a recognizable bouquet. Developed in the late 1980s by perfumers at Firmenich, Jour would likely have used a carefully balanced combination of natural materials and modern aroma molecules to create a bright, easy-to-wear femininity that felt clean, cheerful, and immediate.
The opening "fruity" accord would probably greet you not as one identifiable fruit but as a basket of impressions merging together. Imagine biting into a ripe peach, inhaling the crisp sweetness of apple skin, and catching the delicate tartness of berries and citrus carried on cool morning air. Smelling real peach itself is interesting because peaches produce almost no usable perfume oil through extraction; the scent cannot simply be distilled into a bottle. Perfumers instead reconstruct peach using synthetic molecules. One of the most important is gamma-undecalactone, often called peach lactone, which smells like soft peach flesh, apricot nectar, warm milk, and velvety skin. Another commonly used molecule might be aldehyde C-14 (despite the name, not technically an aldehyde), which contributes creamy peach-like sweetness. These materials create an illusion that can actually feel more realistic than nature itself, because they isolate and amplify the most beautiful parts of a fruit while leaving behind its watery, fleeting aspects. The synthetics give the fruit brightness and persistence, while traces of natural citrus oils could add sparkle and freshness.
As the perfume begins unfolding, the "green" heart emerges. Green notes in perfumery are among the most evocative because they attempt to capture sensations that often cannot be extracted directly. You cannot simply distill the smell of crushed stems, fresh leaves, or spring grass. Instead, perfumers construct these sensations with aroma chemicals designed to mimic nature's hidden scents. One important ingredient often used is cis-3-hexenol, sometimes called "leaf alcohol." Smelling it by itself is startlingly realistic: freshly cut grass, snapped stems, cucumber skin, and leaves crushed between your fingers. Another possibility is galbanum, a resin traditionally obtained from plants growing in regions like Iran. True galbanum smells intensely green and almost shocking at first: bitter sap, damp leaves, earth, and sharp vegetation. Natural galbanum can sometimes feel almost too aggressive, so perfumers soften and expand it with modern molecules that lend translucency and freshness.
These synthetic green materials perform an important role because they transform what could have been merely sweet fruitiness into something more vibrant and alive. Without them, the opening fruits might become syrupy or flat. Instead, the greenery creates the sensation of fruit still attached to branches and leaves, carrying the smell of sunlight and living plants. The effect is like standing in an orchard rather than eating fruit indoors.
As Bic Jour dries down, the woody base begins to emerge quietly beneath everything else. The woods in a fragrance like this would likely be light rather than dense—less dark cedar chest and more sunlit wood warmed by air and skin. Sandalwood may have contributed creamy softness, while cedarwood could add pencil shavings and dry aromatic warmth. Traditional sandalwood from India was once considered among perfumery's greatest treasures because genuine Mysore sandalwood possessed a uniquely rich, creamy, almost milky smoothness with subtle spicy undertones unlike sandalwood from Australia or elsewhere. By the late twentieth century, however, its availability had become increasingly restricted.
Because of these limitations, synthetic sandalwood molecules became essential. Materials such as Sandalore and other sandalwood aromatics were developed to recreate and enhance the creamy warmth of natural sandalwood. Smelling them on their own reveals soft wood polished with warm skin, faint sweetness, and almost fabric-like comfort. Rather than replacing natural wood, these molecules enlarge its presence, allowing it to feel smoother, cleaner, and more persistent on the skin.
Bic Jour ultimately feels less like a detailed floral arrangement and more like the memory of an idealized spring morning. The fruits sparkle with a brightness enhanced by modern chemistry, the green heart smells of leaves still wet with dew, and the woods settle close to the skin like sunlight warming pale wood furniture beside an open window. It is intentionally uncomplicated and approachable, but beneath that simplicity lies a surprisingly sophisticated construction: nature refined and enlarged by perfumery's invisible architecture.
Bic Sport:
Bic Sport is a fresh woody fragrance, suitable for both sexes.
- Top notes: citrus
- Middle notes: green
- Base notes: aromatic woods
Bic Sport feels like one of those late-1980s attempts to bottle movement itself — not heavy athleticism or aggressive masculinity, but the sensation of clean air, sunlight, and energy. Unlike many sports fragrances of later decades that became dominated by aquatic molecules and sharp ozonic freshness, Bic Sport appears to have been built around a simpler architecture: citrus, green notes, and aromatic woods. The structure suggests a fragrance designed to feel universally wearable, avoiding overt sweetness or floral softness and instead creating something that moves comfortably between masculine and feminine territory. Smelling it in your imagination feels like stepping outdoors on a bright morning after rain, where cool air still carries moisture but sunlight has already begun warming leaves and wood.
The citrus opening would likely arrive as an immediate flash of brightness — not one fruit, but an orchestration of several citrus materials designed to create sparkle and lift. Imagine cutting into a ripe orange, tearing a lemon peel between your fingers, and releasing the tiny droplets of oil hidden beneath the rind. Citrus oils are among perfumery's oldest materials because they can be expressed directly from the fruit peel. Italian citrus oils have long been considered especially prized due to the Mediterranean climate and mineral-rich soil. Italy produces bergamot and orange oils renowned for their balance of sweetness and aromatic complexity. Italian citrus often possesses greater richness and floral softness than varieties grown elsewhere, creating brightness without harsh acidity.
Natural citrus oils, however, evaporate very quickly. To prevent a fragrance from disappearing moments after application, perfumers often reinforce them with aroma molecules. Materials such as limonene contribute the bright sparkling sensation of fresh orange peel, while citral introduces sharp lemon brightness. Another important material could be linalyl acetate, which smells smooth and lightly floral, softening the sharper citrus edges. These molecules act like hidden architecture supporting the natural oils. Rather than replacing them, they extend their life and increase their projection, allowing the freshness to linger longer than nature alone would permit.
The green heart emerges as the citrus glow begins settling, and this stage likely gives Bic Sport much of its identity. Green notes in perfumery attempt to capture smells that rarely yield useful essential oils. You cannot distill the smell of fresh-cut grass, snapped leaves, or the cool scent released when stems are broken. Instead, perfumers create these sensations through aroma chemistry. One of the most important green materials is cis-3-hexenol, often called leaf alcohol. Smelling it directly can be almost startling: crushed grass, cucumber skin, torn ivy leaves, and fresh sap still wet from a broken stem. There is a coolness to it that feels almost visual — like seeing bright green after months of winter gray.
Natural materials may also contribute depth. Galbanum, traditionally harvested from plants in Iran, offers an intensely green aroma unlike almost anything else in perfumery. Smelling true galbanum is like crushing leaves and bitter herbs together while standing in damp earth. It possesses sharp resinous facets that can seem almost severe by themselves. Modern synthetic green materials soften and shape these rough edges, adding airy freshness and transparency. The combination creates something more realistic than either natural or synthetic materials could achieve alone — less like a specific plant and more like the smell of nature itself.
As Bic Sport settles into its base, aromatic woods begin appearing beneath the brightness and greenery. These woods likely lean toward dry, fresh woods rather than dark oriental woods. Cedarwood may contribute its familiar scent of sharpened pencils, dry timber, and cool aromatic warmth. Sandalwood introduces something softer and creamier beneath it. Genuine sandalwood from India was once considered exceptional because Mysore trees produced oil with a uniquely rich, smooth, almost milky quality that distinguished it from Australian sandalwoods, which can feel drier and sharper.
By the late twentieth century, however, perfumers increasingly relied upon synthetic sandalwood molecules. Materials such as Sandalore and related compounds reproduce the creamy warmth of sandalwood while adding diffusion and longevity. Smelling Sandalore on its own feels smooth and comforting — warm skin, soft wood polished by time, and subtle sweetness. Synthetic cedar molecules may also have been used to sharpen the woody structure and keep it feeling clean rather than heavy.
Together, these woods create a base that does not dominate the fragrance but quietly supports it. Rather than ending in deep smoke or rich sweetness, Bic Sport seems to fade into the sensation of warm skin after time spent outdoors. The citrus remains as a memory of brightness, the green notes linger like leaves moving in air, and the woods settle into something clean and softly aromatic. It feels less like a conventional perfume and more like an atmosphere — sunlight filtering through trees, fresh air moving through open spaces, and the easy simplicity of movement itself.
Bic Homme:
Bic Homme is classified as an earthy fougere fragrance for men
- Top notes: bergamot, lavender
- Middle notes: fern
- Base notes: musk
Bic Homme follows the classic fougère tradition, a structure that has defined masculine perfumery for more than a century. Yet despite the name fougère—French for “fern”—the category has always been built upon an illusion. Fern itself possesses no perfume extractable for fragrance use; if you crush a living fern in your hands, you would smell damp greenery, cool earth, and wet stems, but not the polished aromatic accord associated with perfumery. Fougères therefore are works of olfactory architecture rather than literal botanical recreations. Bic Homme appears to embrace this heritage in a streamlined way: citrus brightness from bergamot, aromatic lavender, the imagined scent of fern, and soft musk. The result likely feels earthy and clean at once, the smell of freshly shaved skin, pressed cotton, and cool green landscapes.
The fragrance opens with bergamot, one of perfumery’s most important citrus materials. True bergamot from Italy has historically been regarded as the finest in the world because the mineral-rich coastal soil and Mediterranean climate produce fruit with exceptional aromatic complexity. Unlike ordinary lemon or orange, bergamot carries contradictions within its scent. Smelling the oil directly reveals sparkling citrus brightness, but beneath that are floral nuances, soft bitterness, and an almost tea-like elegance. It smells like peeling a green citrus fruit while standing in warm sunlight, where sweetness and tartness seem to exist simultaneously. Bergamot provides far more than freshness—it creates lift and refinement.
Natural bergamot oil evaporates rapidly, so perfumers traditionally reinforce it with supporting aroma molecules. Linalyl acetate contributes a silky, slightly fruity floral softness that rounds out the sharper citrus edges, while limonene contributes the vivid sparkle of freshly expressed peel oils. These molecules do not overpower the natural material; rather, they make the bergamot feel fuller and more radiant, extending its presence so the opening does not vanish immediately.
As the bergamot settles, lavender begins emerging from beneath it. True lavender from France has long been treasured because the dry climate and elevated terrain produce flowers with exceptional aromatic clarity. French lavender possesses a cleaner and more balanced profile than some other varieties, containing herbaceous coolness alongside floral softness. Smelling real lavender oil is often surprising because it smells far richer than simple dried lavender sachets. There is freshness reminiscent of mountain air, herbal greenness, subtle sweetness, and a slightly camphorous coolness that almost feels medicinal in the most elegant sense.
Perfumers enhance lavender through molecules naturally present within it and through carefully chosen synthetic materials. Linalool smells fresh, lightly floral, and gently woody, while linalyl acetate adds smoothness and soft floral fruitiness. Coupled together, they enlarge lavender's natural beauty. Rather than making lavender smell artificial, these materials heighten the flower's brightness and diffusion, making it seem more expansive and cleaner than nature alone might allow.
The heart of Bic Homme revolves around the fern accord—the very soul of a fougère. This is where perfumery's artistry becomes visible. Real fern cannot produce an essential oil useful for fragrance creation, so perfumers build the sensation entirely through accord construction. Historically, one of the most important ingredients in fougère compositions has been coumarin, first isolated from tonka beans. Smelling coumarin by itself is beautiful and immediately recognizable: freshly cut hay drying in summer sunlight, warm almonds, vanilla sweetness, and soft tobacco. Coumarin transformed perfumery because it gave perfumers the ability to create warmth beneath aromatic freshness.
Alongside coumarin, green materials such as cis-3-hexenol may contribute the smell of crushed leaves and damp vegetation. Oakmoss-like materials may provide earthy forest depth. By the late twentieth century, synthetic moss materials frequently replaced or supplemented natural oakmoss, creating smoother and cleaner effects while retaining its damp woodland character. Together these ingredients create the illusion of fern—not a single plant but an entire landscape: cool moss underfoot, shaded greenery, and moisture lingering in the air beneath trees.
The base of Bic Homme finally settles into musk, which by the late 1980s would have been entirely synthetic. Natural animal musk had long disappeared from mainstream perfumery, but synthetic musks opened entirely new possibilities. Materials such as galaxolide create a clean, freshly laundered softness, while others contribute skin-like warmth and subtle powderiness. Smelling modern musk ingredients individually often seems surprisingly understated: warm cotton, clean skin after bathing, sunlight trapped in fabric. Their purpose is not to announce themselves loudly but to blur and soften every preceding note.
In Bic Homme, the musk would likely wrap around the bergamot, lavender, and fougère accord like warm fabric settling over the skin. Instead of ending in dark woods or heavy sweetness, the fragrance would fade into something clean, earthy, and intimate. The effect feels like standing in a green landscape after rain while wearing a freshly pressed shirt: citrus brightness still lingering in the air, aromatic herbs brushing against the wind, and soft warmth remaining close to the body. It is a classic masculine structure reduced to its essentials, simple on paper but surprisingly sophisticated beneath its apparent simplicity.
Fate of the Fragrances:
Parfums Bic pulled the fragrances from shelves in 1991 due to poor sales in the USA, a loss of $11 million. One reason for the failure was that there were no testers for customers to try out the perfumes. Some customers were confused about the lighter shape of the bottle, and felt the perfumes probably smelled like butane or ink. The other reason was that Bic wanted the fragrances to be seen as disposable luxury, but this idea backfired, as most customers only saw them as cheap junk. They lacked the sophistication and glamorous fantasy that high end perfume advertisements and marketing promised.