Anyone In The Uk Seen The Bic Promotion To Win £10 For Totally Finishing One Bic Crystal?

[aussielondon]

I saw a pack of 10 Bic Crystals and I think this is only for UK residents (but it could also be in the US or other countries).

Anyone seen or though of doing it or tried it?

 

Apparently individuals can get £10 each (pounds) for each finished pen and up to £100 for 10 finished pens if submitting as a registered business.

 

https://apps.facebook.com/biccristalchallenge/

[Komitadjie]

A better question: Would you rather pay ten pounds, or HAVE to sit and write until one of those glue-sticks was empty?

[The Blue Knight]

Yeah I have however I think bics are meant to write something like a 10km line per pen. As much as £100 sounds great I can't hep but think you would have to scribble for days to achieve this. However I imagine they ask for proof to show you have used up the pens genuinely.

[aussielondon]

A better question: Would you rather pay ten pounds, or HAVE to sit and write until one of those glue-sticks was empty?

Hahaha, I think since I have always been annoyed that I have never finised one of those bics in my life, then apart from the prize (which isn't much as it equates to about $16 in US money..... but it's the fact that it would be something I can say I have done!

 

I would clearly just scribble while watching TV (they say that cheating by tampering with the pen would void the entry... but I am not sure how they could tell someone has tampered with the pen to remove the ink).

 

I was thinking to use a syringe to extract the ink from the back of the inner tube... hmmmm.

 

But it seems something cool so thought I would share it.

[aussielondon]

Yeah I have however I think bics are meant to write something like a 10km line per pen. As much as £100 sounds great I can't hep but think you would have to scribble for days to achieve this. However I imagine they ask for proof to show you have used up the pens genuinely.

Well they just say you need to include the pen (or pens of entering as a registered business name to claim up to 10 pens worth) and include with the empty pen(s) the receipt that shows you purchased the pack, and also the completed form that you can print off along with the promotional wrapper of the 10pack of pens.

That's all they say is needed.

As it's from Bic I would assume it's a proper promotion as they are a pretty large company.

 

OH, btw, to save time in emptying multiple pens by doodling you just rubberband tie multiple pens together to scribble using several at the same time

And to be even more tight with money, you can scribble on old newspaper and not new clean paper, so as not to waste that

Edited September 17, 2014 by aussielondon

[The Blue Knight]

OH, btw, to save time in emptying multiple pens by doodling you just rubberband tie multiple pens together to scribble using several at the same time

And to be even more tight with money, you can scribble on old newspaper and not new clean paper, so as not to waste that

 

 

Good idea!

 

However the thought of using a bic for 5 mins makes me grimace however I can't imagine the pain of using one for longer.

[aussielondon]

 

 

Good idea!

 

However the thought of using a bic for 5 mins makes me grimace however I can't imagine the pain of using one for longer.

Well say if you do not know someone that has a registered business, then you can still do multiple entries for the £10 each, and lower the workload of scribbling as using the rubberband tie together method and if you know friends that live in different addresses, then you can do shifts at scribbling with the pens tied together using rubberband.... this way, when all the pens empty at the same time then all you and your friends take 1 pen each thats empty from the collective scribbling effort and then submit separate claim forms

 

The very action of taking turns doing shifts with the pens tied together really would considerably lessen the amount of scribbling you would need to do... it's the mass production method basically.

[MBFan]

Or, you could rubber band a bunch, and attach it to a small motor and just have them spinning away on paper. That way, you wouldn't have to interact with 'it'. My first thought was a Lego motor, but if you REALLY cba, just whack it on the end of an electric whisk.

[LamyOne]

Hello Aussielondon,

 

Well, I don't know about now, but 30-35 years ago, it would have been easy money for me! I went through junior high and senior high school using Bic Crystals, (back then, they were just called Bics).

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

Edited September 17, 2014 by LamyOne

[Komitadjie]

I think the biggest reason I've never actually "finished" one is because I either lost it, or got sick of scribbling trying to get it to work and threw it away long before the ink was actually expended.

[aussielondon]

Or, you could rubber band a bunch, and attach it to a small motor and just have them spinning away on paper. That way, you wouldn't have to interact with 'it'. My first thought was a Lego motor, but if you REALLY cba, just whack it on the end of an electric whisk.

This is good thinking I like it, I like it

But I mean I am seriously thinking of going to the hospital and trying to get hold of a syringe and then use that to carefully extract the ink... but will they know? How could they tell I have done that you think?

 

Hello Aussielondon,

 

Well, I don't know about now, but 30-35 years ago, it would have been easy money for me! I went through junior high and senior high school using Bic Crystals, (back then, they were just called Bics).

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

Haha, but they are the worst pens ever, just looking at the £££ I am always up for a challenge

 

I think the biggest reason I've never actually "finished" one is because I either lost it, or got sick of scribbling trying to get it to work and threw it away long before the ink was actually expended.

Me too, they always got lost or stolen etc, and this is why I really am drawn to this challenge

[Icywolfe]

Not sure if 10 pounds is worth killing you hand...

 

I actually finished a few in the past.... but I'm on the wrong side of the pond.

Edited September 17, 2014 by Icywolfe

[FayeV]

Or, you could rubber band a bunch, and attach it to a small motor and just have them spinning away on paper. That way, you wouldn't have to interact with 'it'. My first thought was a Lego motor, but if you REALLY cba, just whack it on the end of an electric whisk.

 

While reading this thread, I was thinking there must be some way to rig it so that it is automated instead of having to write by hand. Looks like you found the way to do this!

 

Otherwise it wouldn't be worth my time or effort to do it by hand. Besides, I'm on the wrong side of the Pond.

[Icywolfe]

 

While reading this thread, I was thinking there must be some way to rig it so that it is automated instead of having to write by hand. Looks like you found the way to do this!

 

Otherwise it wouldn't be worth my time or effort to do it by hand. Besides, I'm on the wrong side of the Pond.

Just write a book about your life and a bic will be finished.

[Anne-Sophie]

I find it hilarious that, in the UK, Bic is now paying people to buy their Crystal sticks.

 

Their yellow twins were mandatory in primary school, but were so painful to use, that by the third grade, I switched to multi-ballpoints which were much fatter.

 

By the fourth grade, I used a fountain pen.

 

Now, the only Bics I have, are novelty/give away pens.

 

I suspect that Bic is trying to stem the tide of friction ball points which, like all mass market ballpoints, are awful to use, but at least, they can be erased, which is a bonus when filling out forms.

Edited September 17, 2014 by Anne-Sophie

[Brian K]

I agree with Icywolfe - seems like alot of work for a few quid...

[arcadeflow]

All my Bics dried the tip long before the ink was spent. My school teachers used to heat them up with a lighter so they would start running again, but it never worked for long after that. Some of mine leaked too, sometimes at the tip, sometimes at the tip joint. I like their minimalist design and it is useful because it is cheap and you can quickly write a note with it, but it is not an adequate writing tool for workers and students, it should be banished from schools and workplaces.

[inkstainedruth]

I had a college professor who liked BICs because if for some reason they quit writing before they were empty he could mail them back to the BIC headquarters in Milford, CT (the college was in Bridgeport, which was about 3 towns over) and get a free replacement.

Of course, I also remember (especially when I was little) my mother taking a match to ballpoint tips in the winter time to get them started writing again.

I'd like to see someone compare the amount of writing done with a BIC with, say, my Parker 51. Or my Vac Major, where the entire barrel gets filled with ink. Of course, both would be more comfortable to hold and write with....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[aussielondon]

I find it hilarious that, in the UK, Bic is now paying people to buy their Crystal sticks.

You know somethings wrong when a company has to offer to pay you more than the purchase price to use their product

 

Alot of shops here don't stock fountain pens, and I had to search online and pay £9 (about $15) for a Parker vector that I show in my profile photo on here.

So Bic wants to pay me to use their pens but I am preparing to pay for a Parker fountain pen that I can't find near me... quality sells itself

 

I got to write a whole lawsuit to file against Qantas Airways in court (filing myself to represent myself), so I guess I could just use that Bic for it and that should end all the ink form that pen haha

Edited September 17, 2014 by aussielondon

[I.M.]

They're probably just very confident that either people don't write enough by hand these days to use up one of their pens, or that most people will lose them before they've been emptied. And while the electric mixer idea's nice, will the mixer exert enough pressure to get the ink flowing in the first place? As for the syringe, I'll need one humongously long needle to empty a BIC, that's assuming the syringe can cope with the thick gloop they call ink.

 

Personally I think I'll pass on the challenge, I'm not convinced the final hourly wage is worth it... how many hours does it take to empty one anyway?

Edited September 17, 2014 by I.M.