View source for Wite-Out

{{short description|US brand of correction fluid}}
{{Other uses|Whiteout (disambiguation){{!}}Whiteout}}
{{infobox brand
| logo                   =
| name                   = Wite-Out
| image                  =
| type                   = [[Correction fluid]]
| currentowner           = [[Société Bic]] (1992-present)
| previousowners         = Wite-Out Products, Inc.
| origin                 =
| introduced             = 1966
| discontinued           =
| related                = [[Liquid Paper]], [[Tipp-Ex]]
| markets                =
| trademarkregistrations = United States (1974)
| ambassador             =
| tagline                =
| website                =
}}
'''Wite-Out''' is a [[registered trademark]] for a brand of [[correction fluid]], originally created for use with [[photocopier|photocopies]], and manufactured by the [[Société Bic|BIC]] corporation.

==History==
{{refimprove|section|date=February 2019}}
Wite-Out dates to 1966, when Edwin Johanknecht an [[insurance]]-company clerk, sought to address a problem he observed in [[correction fluid]] available at the time: a tendency to smudge ink on <!-- "photostatic" derives from dead trademark Photostat --> [[photostat]]ic copies when it was applied. Johanknecht enlisted the help of his associate George Kloosterhouse, a basement waterproofer who experimented with chemicals, and together they developed their own correction fluid, introduced as "Wite-Out WO-1 Erasing Liquid".

In 1971, they incorporated as Wite-Out Products, Inc. The trademark "Wite-Out" was registered by the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] on February 5, 1974.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4806:noa014.3.18 |title=Word Mark WITE-OUT |quote=Registration Number 0978134 |publisher=[[United States Patent and Trademark Office|USPTO]] |date=1974 |access-date=2006-09-27}}</ref> The application listed the date of "first use in commerce" as January 27, 1966.

Early forms of Wite-Out sold through 1981 were water-based and hence water-[[soluble]]. While this allowed simple cleaning, it also had the problem of long drying times. The formula also did not work well on non-photostatic media such as typewritten copy.  

The company was bought in 1981 by Archibald Douglas. Douglas, as chairman, led the company toward solvent-based formulas with faster drying times. Three different formulas were created, each optimized for different media. New problems arose: a separate bottle of thinner was required, and the solvent used was known to contribute to [[ozone depletion]]. The company addressed these problems in July 1990 with the introduction of a reformulated "For Everything" correction fluid.

The French corporation [[Société Bic]] acquired Wite-Out Products in 1992.<ref name="BICacquisition">{{cite web |title=Acquisition of Wite-Out® 1992 |url=https://www.bicworld.com/en/1992-acquisition-wite-outr |website=BICWorld |publisher=Société BIC S.A. |access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref>

In 2017, sales of Wite-Out grew nearly 10 percent globally with ''[[AdWeek]]'' suggesting that the increase in sales was due to artists using the fluid as paint.<ref>{{cite news |last=Graham |first=David A. |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/03/who-still-buys-wite-out-and-why/567311/ |title=Who Still Buys Wite-Out, and Why? |work=[[The Atlantic]] |date=2019-03-19 |access-date=2019-03-20 }}</ref> 

==See also==
* [[Liquid Paper]]
* [[Tipp-Ex]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Brands that became generic]]
[[Category:Correction instruments]]
[[Category:Products introduced in 1966]]