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Since it was launched in 1971, there has been an explosion in the variety of highlighters on the market. Today, you can choose from pen highlighters like the Sharpie Accent (see page 3); crayon-like drylighters from Stabilo and Staedtler; eraseable highlighters like Pilot’s FriXion Light; and even highlighter fountain pens (see page 3).

Highlighters now come in dozens of vibrant colours and shapes. They come built into multifunction pens, combined with Post-it note dispensers and in child-friendly, bite-sized chunks of fuorescence. Yet, it is still the fat geometric shape of the BOSS highlighter and its distinctive chisel tip that springs to mind when highlighters are mentioned. To this day, it remains the perfect marriage of technical brilliance, marketing nous and design – with a little serendipity thrown in for good measure.

Legend has it that the unmistakeable look of the BOSS Original came about when a frustrated designer slammed his hand down on a conical cylinder of modelling clay.

The resulting shape gave the BOSS Original instant personality when it was launched in 1971, but the real breakthrough was the invention of fuorescent ink that made it possible to highlight text without obscuring the words underneath.

Not everyone welcomed this

development. In 1971, it was such a novelty that Stabilo undertook research to gauge market reactions to the bright new ink. Most people recognised the advantages of highlighting rather than underlining text, but there were still some who thought the ink too bright. A few even complained that it hurt their eyes. Schwan Stabilo’s next masterstroke was to give the new pen a simple, memorable name that was instantly recognisable around the world. This was followed with an early advertising and sampling campaign targeting 1,000 opinion leaders, business executives and politicians including Germany’s Chancellor. Samples were sent out with a letter from Stabilo MD Günther Schwanhäusser who had come up with the idea of a highlighter when, on a trip to the US, he noticed students using a crude pen with drab, yellow-brown ink to mark passages of text.

In his letter Herr Schwanhäusser, father of today’s Managing Director, stated that the pen “helps simplify your work, saves precious time for more important things and belongs on every desk.” His audience agreed and since its launch Stabilo has sold more than 1.8 billion BOSS highlighters worldwide – in the original yellow and eight additional colours, including several shades of green, pink, purple, orange and blue. To this day, BOSS is the only highlighter available in a choice of nine luminous colours. In its lifetime the refllable BOSS Original has continued to evolve while retaining its identity and core attributes. Today it has a write-out length of 375 metres; an unrivalled cap-off time of four hours; two line thicknesses; water-based ink; and 30% recycled plastic in the cap and seal.

In 2002, Schwan Stabilo introduced the BOSS Mini limited edition pens winning new fans in the youth market.

Today, BOSS is the Number One brand in all core European markets, with an Aided Brand awareness of 83%, twice that of its nearest competitor. After 40 years, it continues to boss the market, outselling its nearest branded competitor by 10 to 1 across Europe.

To celebrate the BOSS highlighter’s frst 40 years, Stabilo is giving away several £500 Red Letter Day gift tokens to be spent any way you want, plus USB sticks in the shape of the BOSS Original for runners-up. Other promotional activities for this anniversary year include special edition stickers featuring bossy slogans that you can use to customise your BOSS highlighter. For further details, please visit http://boss-wanted.com

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