Bic is bringing back its iconic “Flick Your Bic” tagline as part of a new campaign launching Monday, Marketing Dive can exclusively share. Central to the effort is a 30-second ad that firms up a cheekier tone for the brand’s messaging while highlighting its line of lighter products.
Created with agency Doner, the “Waxy Saxy” spot focuses on a couple for whom the spark has gone out. A narrator sings, “When the night loses its flame, flick your Bic and reignite the romance,” with the flick of a Bic lighter changing the mood. The man then transforms into a Kenny G-lookalike playing a saxophone made of wax while his partner trades her romance novel for a flowing red dress.
The ad brings back a tagline Bic used in the 1970s that saw users flick the brand’s pocket lighters — a product that launched in 1973 — in humorous scenarios set in bars, airplanes and movie theaters. Consumers still bring up the decades-old tagline in market research, according to Jeany Mui, brand director for Bic Lighters.
“We took our old heritage, modernized it, made it relevant for the times [while] still keeping that light-hearted, humorous attitude that we have,” said Mui of the new campaign.
Bic in recent years has marketed its lighters with campaigns starring famous cannabis smokers like Willie Nelson, Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg. The new campaign shifts focus, as more than 40% of Bic consumers use lighters to light candles, making it the No. 1 lighter occasion, according to Mui. The “Waxy Saxy” ad shows a pocket lighter and an EZ Reach lighter sparking up candles, while a longer-stemmed utility lighter helps start a fireplace.
While focused on candle-lighting moments in spring, fall and winter, the year-long campaign will also include social ads for pot-smoker holiday 4/20 and the start of summer grilling. The effort will drive awareness via online videos, including on Meta platforms, where Bic’s consumers spend the most time sharing, liking and commenting, as well as through retail media partnerships.
Challenging market
Bic, a French manufacturing corporation founded in 1945, is also known for making razors, stationary and pens. Mui works very closely with other brand directors at the company to share information and look for marketing opportunities that span categories. The executive points to a recent retail display timed to America’s 250th birthday that brings together lighters and four-color pens.
“We are doing something to build the excitement together and actually get more opportunity in-store, because originally I was going to sell a certain amount, but now adding the pens to it gives a little twist, and we’re actually getting incremental sales and more retailers interested,” Mui said.
Netting more incremental growth could help, as Bic saw sales decrease 0.9% in 2025, a slide the company attributed to a “particularly challenging U.S. environment” in an earnings statement. While lighters still have household uses around candles and grilling, tobacco smoking has hit an all-time low and cannabis smoking faces challenges from vaping and edibles. To stay abreast of lighter trends, Bic conducts annual attitude and usage studies, among other monitoring activities.
“We even look into Pinterest and to see what’s going on there — what is hot and trending with Gen Zers, designs, colors and things like that,” Mui explained. “We have a whole insights team that supports us and helps us look into all of that.”
