RONSON | COMET | 1967
The $6.95 Revolution / RONSON "COMET"
In 1967, a quiet revolution was happening in the world of lighters.
The problem
Since its founding in 1913, Ronson had been known as a top name in lighters. In 1957 the company launched the Varaflame series, using a new refueling system, and by the late '60s it had become a hit product, with 15,000 units produced worldwide every day. The COMET came out of that same line of thinking, launching in 1965 as a plastic, butane-powered model.
The idea
A lightweight plastic body with an automatic ignition system, sold for just $6.95. The product itself—designed to turn everything people assumed about lighters upside down—became the heart of the ad.
What happened
Won GOLD.
Afterthought
The title, the copy, the visuals—everything declares flatly that this is not like any lighter that came before. There's a 1960s kind of boldness in taking the product's innovation and turning it directly into the force of the ad. I couldn't track down detailed results, but the fact that it's still loved as a collector's item more than half a century later says everything.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 1967
Featured in
- One Number, Right in the Middle of the Ad$6.95, £14,650, 18 seconds, 9 days and 6 hours.
