Newport-pleasures logingames

American brand of menthol cigarettes

"Newports" redirects here. For other uses, see Newport.

Newport is an American brand of menthol cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The brand was originally named for the seaport of Newport, Rhode Island.^[1]

History

Newport was launched in by the Lorillard Tobacco Company.^[2] The spinnaker present on all packs since the late s is meant to capitalize on the association with sailing.^{[citation needed]}

The original Newport had a white filter and a hint of mint; both were gone in and the white filter was replaced by a standard filter. The Newport Classic full flavor cigarettes were promoted for many years as a cigarette that allows you to "Enjoy a full flavor menthol, without drowning out pure tobacco taste".^{[citation needed]}

In the mids, Newport began an advertising campaign that targeted African Americans in urban areas. In two years, Newport became the fifth most popular cigarette on the market.^[3] Because of this, Newport has gained a commanding share of the African-American market; a survey stated that % of all cigarette sales to African-Americans were Newport cigarettes. Newport has been the second best-selling cigarette brand in the United States since , trailing only Altria's Marlboro brand.^[2]

A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that the percentage of teen Newport smokers doubled between and Researcher Karen Gerlach indicated that Newport made the most significant progress with the Hispanic and White American teen markets in those years.^[4] A Massachusetts Department of Public Health report indicated that Newports, alongside unfiltered Camel cigarettes, contained the highest levels of nicotine in cigarettes on the market. In the following six years, Lorillard Tobacco increased the amount of nicotine in Newport by 10%.^[5]

In , the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company acquired Newport and the entire Lorillard Tobacco Company for $ billion.^[6][7] Until June , ITG Brands continued to make Newports for Reynolds in the former Lorillard plant in Greensboro, North Carolina.^[8]

Newport comprises about 35 percent of menthol cigarette sales in the U.S.^[9] It has been the most popular mentholated cigarette brand sold in the United States since ^[2]

Advertisement

Lorillard advertised Newport in various ways. TV advertisements were created in the s to promote the brand.^[10]

Once TV advertisements were banned in the United States, Lorillard advertised the brand through poster advertisements. The Newport ads in this theme range from to present day and feature the "Newport Pleasure" or "Alive with Pleasure" campaign slogans. The latter slogan provides the viewer with a subconscious health claim. Additionally, the pleasure aspect of these campaigns weighs an important part of youth targeting, portraying Newport cigarettes as fun and enjoyable and, subconsciously, sexy and sexual.^[11]

Markets

Newport is mainly sold in the United States, except in Massachusetts and California, where menthol cigarettes are banned and only non-mentholated varieties are sold.^[12]

Controversy

Lorillard handing out free cigarettes to children

A lawsuit against the Lorillard Tobacco Company alleged that in the late s, company vans were used to make regular trips to housing projects where free Newport cigarettes were given to children.^[13] Evidence showed that the deceased plaintiff died of lung cancer, but that she started smoking at age nine after receiving free Newport cigarettes near the black playground in Boston.^[14][15] The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld $35 million of damages against Lorillard Tobacco Company while reversing other issues of damages.^[16]

Newport and targeting of African-Americans

Further information: Tobacco marketing targeting African Americans

In the s, Lorillard specifically targeted African Americans to sell Newport cigarettes.^{[citation needed]}

Lorillard increased its African American market budget by 87% over due to increased efforts marketing its menthol cigarette, Newport, to the African American market. Government surveys in revealed that menthol cigarettes dominated 30% of the overall market, and over 80% of black smokers prefer menthol as opposed to 22% of non-Hispanic white smokers.^[17] In , it was reported that Newport was the brand of choice for nearly 60% of black smokers.^[18][19]

Newport and targeting teenagers

In September , it was reported that R.J. Reynolds was specifically targeting black teenagers and young adults to sell Newport cigarettes.

Reynolds American Inc., the parent firm that owns Newport, was pushing the brand on people in their 20s — with pop-ups at music festivals like Las Vegas' Electric Daisy Carnival, a notorious destination for teen-partiers, which was recently pressured to raise its age requirements. Dubbed "Newport Pleasure Lounges", the air-conditioned party trucks were replete with games like digital darts. Newport cigarettes could be purchased in these lounges for $1 per pack. Reynolds had set aside $50 million for such initiatives in ^[18][20]

A study from the Stanford University School of Medicine had discovered that menthol cigarette manufacturers created very direct marketing campaigns designed to attract young black smokers. Far from being a catchall effort, Reuters says these campaigns were concerted attacks on African-American teens: "A recent analysis of the data found school neighborhoods were increasingly likely to have lower prices and more advertising for Newport cigarettes as the proportion of African-American students rose. The same was true of neighborhoods with higher proportions of children aged 10 to "^[21]

Newport, Nike, and plagiarism

In May , a report was written where the popular sport shoe company Nike copied the Swoosh logo from Newport. The comparison was made, because Newport was introduced in and used a logo they call the "spinnaker", while Nike was formed on January 25, , as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight, and officially became Nike, Inc. in The Nike swoosh is a logo design created in by Carolyn Davidson, over a decade after Newport cigarettes were launched.^{[citation needed]}

Despite some claims, no specific evidence has ever been found that Nike stole the logo from Newport.^[22][23]

In , Lorillard and Nike sued graphic designer Ari Saal Forman after he released his Ari Menthol 10s shoes, which combined the design of the Nike Air Force 1 with Newport's spinnaker and colors. According to Forman, the shoes were "dedicated to the two brands who have taken the most and given the least." As a result of the lawsuit, Forman is prohibited from owning a pair of Menthol 10s.^[24][25]

Varieties

Newport cigarettes come in several varieties: Full Flavor, Medium, and Lights. In the United States, in June , "Medium" and "Lights" were re-branded into "Blue" and "Gold" respectively. On the box, the words "Menthol Box" for shorts and "Menthol Box s" for s were replaced simply with "Cigarettes." Each variety is sold in 85mm soft packs (king size), 80mm hard packs (box), and mm soft and hard packs. They are available in standard packs of 20 cigarettes, as well as the more unusual 25s, containing 25 cigarettes. Prior to the signing of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in the late s, they were sold in packs of ten as well.

Due to the FDA Tobacco Regulations, the terms "Full Flavor," "Medium," "Light," "Mild" and "Ultra-Light" have been discontinued. New names for Newport Cigarettes are as follows:

• Newport Box (Full Flavor) & Soft Pack Kings
• Newport Box s (Full Flavor s) & Soft Pack s
• Newport Smooth Select (Full Flavor)
• Newport Smooth Select s (Full Flavor s)
• Newport Menthol Blue (Medium)
• Newport Menthol Blue s (Medium s)
• Newport Menthol Gold (Light) & Menthol Gold Soft Pack Kings
• Newport Menthol Gold s (Light s) & Menthol Gold Soft Pack s
• Newport Non-Menthol
• Newport Non-Menthol s
• Newport Non-Menthol Gold
• Newport Non-Menthol Gold s
• Newport Platinum Blue
• Newport Platinum Blue s
• Newport Platinum Silver
• Newport Platinum Silver s

Non-menthol Newport in Full Flavor and Lights were sold in United States during the mid- to late s, possibly as late as ; however, they were discontinued until November in which they re-released them in order to keep up with the non-menthol cigarette smokers in America. The packs are identical in design to standard menthol Newports except the turquoise-colored area is red on the Full Flavors and mustard-yellow on the Lights. Newport Slim s (introduced ), Newport "Stripes" and Newport "M-Blend" were other varieties that have also been discontinued.

In some Latin American markets, such as tourist areas of the Dominican Republic, British American Tobacco has released some limited edition varieties and outer packaging's including:

• Newport Silver (menthol ultra-lights)
• Newport Freezing Point (10 & 20 count boxes)
• Newport Midnight Blast

In July , R.J. Reynolds announced they would introduce new flavors called Newport Platinum. It would be released in two variants: Newport Platinum (King Size and s) and Newport Platinum Blue (also King Size and s).^[26][27]

See also

References

External links