Marlboro cigarettes — cigarette forum & smokers community
Rating Thread / Thread Starter Last Post Replies Views marlboro ultimate adventure marysackett1952 05 15 2014 12 57 PM
by Chief Smoker 1 175 Marlboro Reds Appreciation Thread ( 1 2 3 … Last Page) jdwsmokes 05 02 2014 09 43 AM
by ianus 56 6,356 Marlboro Greens DancesWithWerewolves 04 20 2014 12 11 AM
by DancesWithWerewolves 1 106 marlboro girl raws1635 04 09 2014 01 59 AM
by LuvFemSmkr 2 223 I am pissed off Boguemaster 04 01 2014 11 51 AM
by Chief Smoker 1 199 Marlboro Black NXT NYC cocomanxt 03 05 2014 07 27 AM
by LaDonna Trask 3 1,487 Marlboro gold equivalent Vaughndy 02 28 2014 12 48 PM
by Jimmy70 2 869 About the taste PhillipMFry 02 28 2014 12 32 PM
by Jimmy70 3 699 Marlboro Cigarette Brands ( 1 2) mark420 02 28 2014 12 29 PM
by Jimmy70 10 1,080 Soft Packs jdwsmokes 02 19 2014 01 22 PM
by Gogo73 8 960 5.80 for pack of Marlboros today, omg ( 1 2 3) CamelMan324 01 18 2014 01 24 PM
by candlebynight 27 6,843 Marlboro Freshness Stamp PM Date Code Decode for Manufacturers Date wipeout97 12 04 2013 10 31 PM
by dinah1220 7 31,270 Marlboro Edge regularfella 11 24 2013 01 21 AM
by robertgregory 4 1,500 Anyone want my Marlboro Coupons? Harrykid 11 13 2013 09 45 PM
by vicky33 1 686 I’m Abandoning Marlboro ( 1 2 3 … Last Page) Max 11 12 2013 01 03 PM
by ianus 33 11,467 Marlboro Lights What tobacco to RYO chloe 11 05 2013 05 25 AM
by regularfella 1 593 Marlboro Southern Cut jdwsmokes 10 29 2013 06 58 PM
by BeVar 8 3,018 Best Online Cigarette Store for NON FSC Marlboros? ( 1 2 3) sunata1 10 21 2013 01 26 PM
by sunata1 20 9,051 Filter quality ( 1 2) dajo 10 21 2013 05 10 AM
by ruthenburg 13 1,156 From red to lights Omarsa 10 01 2013 12 32 PM
by filter man 6 842 Marlboro 83’s. Anybody else tried them? ( 1 2) Opie Knievel 09 19 2013 07 04 PM
by Arial 11 34,776 Marlboro pack design ianus 08 26 2013 01 43 AM
by pipesdaddy 3 913 Marb Lights smoke clouds 08 08 2013 04 12 PM
by Paul Bateman 7 2,457 To All E Cigarette Companies Harrykid 07 19 2013 07 18 PM
by masklofumanto 1 536 Camel Brands Cigarette mark420 05 25 2013 11 01 PM
by ronsen 2 525 Marlboro Blend No. 27’s ( 1 2) cooljay788 05 24 2013 04 20 AM
by alex252 18 44,700 Is Marlboro affiliated with the KKK? ( 1 2) CamelMan324 05 20 2013 03 31 PM
by johnbarclay 13 26,253 Marlboro Blend 27 Info? firefly 05 19 2013 07 01 AM
by dajo 6 15,702 Winston Cigarette Brands mark420 05 11 2013 04 00 PM
by mark420 0 379 L&M cigs mark420 05 11 2013 03 58 PM
by mark420 0 312 Who love Parliament Cigarette Brands flavor mark420 05 11 2013 03 54 PM
by mark420 0 423 Who loves Pall Mall Cigarette Brands flavor mark420 05 11 2013 03 53 PM
by mark420 0 467 Dunhill Cigarette Brands mark420 05 11 2013 03 51 PM
by mark420 0 508 Red & White Cigarette Brands mark420 05 11 2013 03 49 PM
by mark420 0 520 New Port Cigarette Brands mark420 05 11 2013 03 47 PM
by mark420 0 370 Hilton Cigarette Brands mark420 05 11 2013 03 45 PM
by mark420 0 633 hi tammy44 04 19 2013 11 40 PM
by tammy44 0 493 Smooths vs Plain Menthol gordon395 04 10 2013 09 30 AM
by MarlboroMan4063 4 1,511 Social stigma around Marlboro lights/golds smokeybones 04 10 2013 09 26 AM
by MarlboroMan4063 2 1,315 Marlboro NXT jdwsmokes 04 05 2013 11 03 AM
by cocomanxt 5 2,658 How Do I Get Marlboro Coupons? ( 1 2) mack6111 03 27 2013 02 42 AM
by ianus 12 3,902 Code Marlboro Prize Contest Chief Smoker 02 23 2013 09 31 AM
by beckimattke11 8 2,215 Marlboro Lights I REALLY, REALLY LIKE THEM kath 02 14 2013 09 14 PM
by smoker 4 life 2 739 free squeaky 02 02 2013 02 59 PM
by EireFury 4 1,450 Not Smoking Marlboros Anymore ( 1 2) Tahiti 02 01 2013 04 48 PM
by jdwsmokes 15 6,218 Marlboro mix 9 dajo 01 29 2013 10 19 AM
by dajo 0 818 marlboro red label shipma2 01 25 2013 08 58 PM
by jdwsmokes 1 3,075 Coupons not accepted on Marlboro 72’s shosh 01 25 2013 12 41 PM
by Chief Smoker 2 1,636 Marlboro Mediums Appreciation Thread SmokinOsFan 01 24 2013 07 48 PM
by jdwsmokes 1 5,777 Stronger than Marlboro Gold? faint igloo 12 31 2012 03 05 PM
by Zombie1 4 1,644
Camel crush: a not-so-new innovation by our friends at big tobacco
Camel cigarettes turn 100 this year. What does a 100 year old cigarette brand look like? Pretty darn young.
In 2008, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company unleashed Camel Crush. It is a conventional filtered Camel cigarette with a novel twist a menthol capsule is embedded in the filter so that with a squeeze, the smoker can supply a burst of menthol, converting his or her normal cigarette into a minty, menthol smoke. Just what every 60 year old veteran Marlboro smoker was waiting for, right? According to RJR, yes.
RJR says, Camel s colorful, irreverent personality captures the very spirit of adult tobacco consumers, and yet it touts Camel Crush as a Growth Brand. 1 Where do cigarette makers find growth markets for their products? Well, let s let RJR tell us.
A secret 1976 RJR memo recognized that the 14 to 18 year old group is an increasing segment of the smoking population so that RJR T must soon establish a successful new brand in this market if our position in the industry is to be maintained over the long term. 2 A few years later an RJR Strategic Research Report that circulated at the very highest corporate levels recognized that y ounger adult smokers have been the critical factor in the growth and decline of every major brand and company over the last 50 years. A graph included in the memo is entitled Younger Adults Importance as Replacement Smokers and charts the starting age for smokers as young as 13. So the point is not lost, a bullet point emphasizes More than two thirds of male smokers start by age 18. Only 5% start after age 24. Brand loyalty begins young.3
But this was not really news to RJR management. As early as 1928, RJR reminded its sales force SUMMER SCHOOL is starting, including in the High Schools and Prep Schools. Salesmen were encouraged to give these schools your immediate attention and get to work lining up these students for our brands both as CONSUMERS and BOOSTERS. 4 And for decades RJR advertised its products, including Camel cigarettes, in the weekly comics.
So it appears to have gone with Camel Crush. In May 2012, Business Insider reported that Camel had enjoyed a 21% increase in market share among 12 17 year old children a gain attributable to the Camel Crush cigarette which switches from plain to menthol when you squeeze it. 5 RJR says, innovations such as Camel Crush are part of a new generation of tobacco products. 6 Really?
More than 40 years ago, a senior researcher with R.J. Reynolds by the name of Claude Teague authored a confidential Research Planning Memorandum on Some Thoughts About New Brands of Cigarettes for the Youth Market. 7 The memo begins
At the outset it should be said that we are presently, and I believe unfairly, constrained from directly promoting cigarettes to the youth market . . . . Realistically, if our Company is to survive and prosper, over the long term, we must get our share of the youth market. In my opinion this will require new brands tailored to the youth market . . . . Thus, we need new brands designed to be particularly attractive to the young smoker, while ideally at the same time being appealing to all smokers.
Teague spends several pages discussing how pre smokers graduate to learners and then to confirmed smokers. Exploring both the physical effects and psychological effects of smoking on each group, Teague arrives at a few conclusions about the ideal cigarette for the youth smoker, including this interesting observation
Ideally, the name chosen should have a double meaning that is, one desirable connotation in straight language and another in the jargon of youth. A current example may be Kool, which reads on cool cat in youth jargon, and also literally connotes a refreshing physical sensation.
Crush anyone? While the straight meaning applies to crushing the filter to mentholate the cigarette, the Urban Dictionary reminds us that a crush is a burning desire to be with someone who you find very attractive and extremely special. 8 When did you last hear a 40 year old use the term crush in passing conversation? Having two teen daughters, I constantly overhear tales of who is crushing on whom at school. Coincidence? There are very few coincidences in the wildly expensive business of marketing cigarettes, particularly in the creation of a whole new line extension.
If coincidence it is, consider another. Teague s ideal youth cigarette also should include some useful, demonstrable novelty in filter, mouthpiece, package or other aspect of the product system. Of course Camel Crush s novelty filter is its core selling point. Its ad pitch Squeeze. Click. Change. mirrors Teague s recommendation that the product image project some sort of new experience, something arousing, some curiosity, and some challenge. We don t know whether RJR followed Teague s instruction that the rate of absorption of nicotine should be kept low by holding pH down, for beginning smokers, but we do know it is the sort of thing that RJR scientists have considered behind closed doors, as Teague s memo itself demonstrates.
And we know that RJR has gotten Philip Morris s attention. While Camel s market share was up more than 21% among 12 17 year olds last May, PM s mainstay Marlboro was down 11.4% at the same time.9 Not to be outdone, Philip Morris introduced NXT last September its first and only regular to menthol cigarette, introduced ostensibly in response to changing adult smoking preferences. 10 Those 60 year old veteran Marlboro smokers will be thrilled.
Matt Schultz is a Shareholder with Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor in Pensacola, Florida, and regularly litigates cases against the cigarette industry.