Zippo Manufacturing Co. has gotten the green light on the
ZippoBLU lighter.
The ZippoBLU, a butane lighter, is now in production.
“It’s our own technology, our own design,” Zippo President and
Chief Executive Officer Greg Booth said. “This lighter has never
been built before.”
The lighter is now selling in Europe and will formally launch in
August. Booth said customers in this country can expect to see it
on the shelves in September.
Zippo began production of the lighter in the spring.
“It’s being shipped as we speak,” Booth said Monday
afternoon.
“We wanted a Zippo-shaped lighter. We wanted it windproof. We
wanted the Zippo click,” Booth said.
They also wanted the quality that is synonymous with Zippo.
That, as it turned out, became a challenge.
“It was a lot of little components we needed to refine,” Booth
said.
For example, the plastic for the tank had to be a specific type
of plastic to hold up.
“We worked with several types,” Booth said.
The company has worked on the lighter since July 2001.
The lighter was originally called the BluFlame, but the CEO said
they couldn’t register it under that name – someone else already
had that name. They just changed it to “BLU.”
“It’s just a tremendous relief,” Booth said. “We got to the
point where all the problems are behind us … It’s a big, big
relief. Until now, it hasn’t been sold.”
One of the things that make this lighter unique is the flint
wheel that’s in the original Zippo lighter. In other butane
lighters, a piezo ignites the flame. However, this is only good for
a limited number of ignitions. Booth said the highest number of
ignitions they found was 15,000.
The flint wheel, on the other hand, “will last forever.”
This ignition mechanism was designed and patented by Zippo.
The lighter is also refillable.
Booth said the typical butane customer is generally the cigar
smoker because the flame burns hotter and there’s no
aftertaste.
“It’s a completely clean burn,” he said.
The butane lighter is also easier to refill. When refilling the
original lighter, the person can get fluid on their hands. In the
BLU, however, the butane is in a canister and its fluid is never in
contact with a person’s hand.
Booth also explained a butane lighter is like a propane tank on
a grill. It burns as a gas and is cleaner.
After spending money to refine the lighter, “now we can sell the
product and generate revenue.”
“We invested a lot of money … millions,” Booth said. “Now we can
start to reap the benefits of our long, hard work.”
And so far, so good for the new lighter.
“The initial reaction has been very good,” Booth said, adding 99
percent of the time, customers have been “absolutely thrilled” with
the new lighter.
Booth acknowledged that lighting the new butane lighter can be
cumbersome and a little different than the original Zippo -ðthe
person needs to hold down on the wheel, then also hold down on the
ignition to keep it lit. But after a few tries, the owner can
master lighting the lighter.
Some feedback includes “Cool looking lighter” and “It works
really well after the initial break-in period … it is the way to
go.”
Another customer said, “It’s got an easily replaceable flint,
sleek, curvy design and an nice fuel gauge window so you can see
how much gas you have left.”
This isn’t the lighter company’s first foray into the world of
butane lighters.
In the mid-80s, Zippo had a butane lighter called Contempo,
which was actually made in Japan.
Booth said one of the reasons the lighter never took off was the
exchange between the dollar and the yen. After a couple of years,
the company decided to take it out of its product line.
This lighter, as opposed to the Contempo, is made “100 percent
in Bradford.”
The basic BLU lighter will be sold between $50 and $80.
“We want the thing to last a lifetime,” he said. “We want to
make it to the next generation.”
They also wanted the lighter to work safely.
“We just wanted to make it with Zippo quality,” he said. “What
Zippo means is the highest quality, durable, guarantee for
life.”
“We reached the finish line.”
