Lorillard Tobacco Company was an American tobacco company that marketed cigarettes under the brand names Newport, Maverick, Old Gold, Kent, True, Satin, and Max. The company had two operating segments: cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.[1]
The Lorillard hogshead in 1789 featuring a Native American smokingLorillard Snuff Mill, built 1840, photo 1936
The company was founded by Pierre Abraham Lorillard in 1760. In 1899, the American Tobacco Company organized a New Jersey corporation called the Continental Tobacco Company, which took a controlling interest in many small tobacco companies.[4] By 1910, James Buchanan Duke controlled Lorillard and the American Tobacco Company, even though Lorillard kept its original name. In 1911, the U.S. Court of Appeals found the American Tobacco Company "in restraint of trade" and issued a Dissolution Decree to the American Tobacco Company, which forced Lorillard to become an independent company again.[5][6] In the same year, Lorillard purchased the Murad brand.
In 1925, Lorillard underwent a significant transition after Benjamin Lloyd Belt became president. Having been with the company since 1911, Belt made some decisions that made the company profitable. He began to prioritize promoting the Old Gold brand instead of Beech-Nut chewing tobacco,[7] using such tactics as Old Gold on Broadway and sponsoring "Old Gold Presents Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra" which was a weekly hour-long show on Tuesdays nights over CBS from station WABC in New York. The Whiteman Hour had its first broadcast on February 5, 1929, and continued until May 6, 1930.[8] When the Whiteman band went to Hollywood in mid-1929 to make the film King of Jazz, Old Gold leased a special eight-coach train to take Whiteman and his entourage to the West Coast. The train stopped at sixteen cities across the nation.[9] Old Gold later sponsored Artie Shaw's Tuesday night "Melody and Madness" program on CBS Radio from November 20, 1938, until November 14, 1939. Belt was still president when he died in 1937.[10]
Billboard in Denver promoting Old Gold cigarettes (May 1972)
Between 1952 and 1956, the Lorillard 'Kent Micronite' brand used a crocidolite asbestos filter, made by the Hollingsworth & Vose company, which later resulted in millions of dollars being paid to the relatives of their employees and customers who had died, or who were dying, of cancer.
Testifying under oath before Congress in 1994, Lorillard's CEO Andrew Tisch said that he did not believe that nicotine was addictive nor that cigarette smoking caused cancer.[11]
In 1997, the firm's headquarters moved to Greensboro from New York City.[12] The firm also manufactured cigarettes in Louisville, Kentucky.
Loews created the Carolina Group as a holding company for its tobacco assets in 2002; it proceeded to sell a minority stake in Carolina on the New York Stock Exchange. Loews controlled Carolina until May 10, 2006, when Loews Corporation sold 15 million shares of Carolina Group, lowering its holding from a controlling 53.7% to a plurality of 46.3%.[13] The sale was valued at approximately $740 million.
In 2006, Lorillard was convicted of racketeering under RICO, along with Philip Morris and R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.[14] The Supreme Court has upheld the verdict, in which Judge Kessler wrote,
[W]hat this case is really about... is about an industry, and in particular these Defendants, that survives, and profits, from selling a highly addictive product which causes diseases that lead to a staggering number of deaths per year, an immeasurable amount of human suffering and economic loss, and a profound burden on our national health care system... In short, Defendants have marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal, with deception, with a single-minded focus on their financial success, and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted.[15]
In 2008, Lorillard Tobacco entered into a separation agreement with its parent company Loews and became an independent publicly traded company.
To comply with FDA regulations, Lorillard had until June 22, 2010, to rebrand tobacco products marketed as "Lights", "Ultra-Lights", "Medium", "Mild", "Full Flavor", or similar designations to belie the false impression that some tobacco products are comparatively safe.
In December 2010, a Boston jury returned a $151 million verdict against Lorillard Tobacco Company for giving out free samples of cigarettes to children in urban housing projects in the 1950s.[16] The plaintiff, Marie Evans, was nine when she first received these samples, according to documents filed by her attorneys. She died of lung cancer before the trial.[17]
In 2014, after negotiations with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Lorillard announced it would no longer test its products on animals. In a statement, the company said it "will use scientifically accepted or validated alternative test methods and technologies that avoid the use of animals. Such methods and tests may include in vitro cell culture tests, advanced chemistry tests and computer modeling programs."[18]
Electronic cigarettes
In April 2012, Lorillard purchased privately held electronic cigarette company, blu eCigs, for $135 million in cash, marking the first foray by the tobacco industry into the electronic cigarette market. The electronic cigarette company had about $30 million in revenue in 2010, with blu eCigs sold in more than 13,000 retail outlets, including Walgreens and Sheetz.[19]
In October 2013, Lorillard acquired UK e-cig company SKYCIG, which it later rebranded to blu ecigs UK.
Camp Old Gold was one of the American Army “Cigarette Camps” established near Le Havre, France, in World War II. As explained in "Introduction: The Cigarette Camps" at the Web site, The Cigarette Camps: The U.S. Army Camps in the Le Havre Area:[26][27]
The staging-area camps were named after various brands of American cigarettes; the assembly area camps were named after American cities. The names of cigarettes and cities were chosen for two reasons: First, and primarily, for security. Referring to the camps without an indication of their geographical location went a long way to ensuring that the enemy would not know precisely where they were. Anybody eavesdropping or listening to radio traffic would think that cigarettes were being discussed or the camp was stateside, especially regarding the city camps. Secondly, there was a subtle psychological reason, the premise being that troops heading into battle wouldn't mind staying at a place where cigarettes must be plentiful and troops about to depart for combat would be somehow comforted in places with familiar names of cities back home (Camp Atlanta, Camp Baltimore, Camp New York, and Camp Pittsburgh, among others). By war's end, however, all of the cigarette and city camps were devoted to departees. Many processed liberated American POWs (Prisoners of War) and some even held German POWs for a while.
Restatement
In May 2003, the company restated its financial statements in 2002 to reflect an adjustment to its historical accounting for CNA's investment in life settlement contracts and the related revenue recognition.[28] On May 3, 2005, Loews Corp, the holding company of Carolina Group, announced to restate results for prior years to correct CNA's accounting for several reinsurance contracts.[29][30]
Altria Group, Inc. is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes, and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in Henrico County, Virginia, just outside the city of Richmond.
The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building. Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American, after merging with the U.S. operations of British American Tobacco in 2004.
The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company. The company was one of the original 12 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896. The American Tobacco Company dominated the industry by acquiring the Lucky Strike Company and over 200 other rival firms. Federal Antitrust action begun in 1907 broke the company into several major companies in 1911.
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation was a U.S. tobacco company and a subsidiary of multinational British American Tobacco that produced several popular cigarette brands. It became infamous as the focus of investigations for chemically enhancing the addictiveness of cigarettes. Its former vice-president of research and development, Jeffrey Wigand, was the whistleblower in an investigation conducted by CBS news program 60 Minutes, an event that was dramatized in the film The Insider (1999). Wigand claimed that B&W had introduced chemicals such as ammonia into cigarettes to increase nicotine delivery and increase addictiveness.
Imperial Brands plc is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in London and Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco and the world's largest producer of fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers.
Loews Corporation is an American conglomerate headquartered in New York City. The company's majority-stake holdings include CNA Financial Corporation, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, Loews Hotels and Altium Packaging.
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.
Reynolds American, Inc. is an American tobacco company which is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco and is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. Its holdings include R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, American Snuff Company, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, and Niconovum AB.
Kent is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in the United States and British American Tobacco elsewhere. The brand is named after Herbert Kent, a former executive at Lorillard Tobacco Company.
Doral is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
Winston is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by ITG Brands, subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco in the United States and by Japan Tobacco outside the U.S. The brand is named after the town where R. J. Reynolds started his business which is Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As of 2017, Winston has the seventh-highest U.S. market share of all cigarette brands, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maxwell Report.
A menthol cigarette is a cigarette infused with the compound menthol which imparts a “minty” flavor to the smoke. Menthol also decreases irritant sensations from nicotine by desensitizing receptors, making smoking feel less harsh compared to regular cigarettes. Some studies have suggested that they are more addictive. Menthol cigarettes are just as hard to quit and are just as harmful as regular cigarettes.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, is a federal statute in the United States that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on June 22, 2009. The Act gives the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate the tobacco industry. A signature element of the law imposes new warnings and labels on tobacco packaging and their advertisements, with the goal of discouraging minors and young adults from smoking. The Act also bans flavored cigarettes, places limits on the advertising of tobacco products to minors and requires tobacco companies to seek FDA approval for new tobacco products.
Old Gold is an American brand of cigarette owned and manufactured by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
Maverick, is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by ITG Brands, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco.
blu is an electronic cigarette brand, produced by Fontem Ventures and owned by Imperial Brands. The brand blu sells various types of rechargeable and disposable e-cigarettes with a wide selection of flavored and unflavored liquids. Its products are available in many countries and each market offers different types of products suited to public demand and opportunities. The global headquarters of blu is located in Amsterdam. Local offices are active around the world to service all markets which sell the brand.
Juul Labs, Inc. is an American electronic cigarette company that spun off from Pax Labs in 2017. Juul Labs makes the Juul electronic cigarette, which atomizes nicotine salts derived from tobacco supplied by one-time use cartridges.
Vuse is an electronic cigarette produced by R. J. Reynolds Vapor Company, a subsidiary of the Reynolds American tobacco company. In 2015, it was the most popular e-cigarette in the United States with 33% market share in Nielsen-tracked channels. However, Vuse lost its top position in 2017, when Juul overtook it to become the most popular e-cigarette in the US. As of August 2018, Vuse controlled 10% percent of the American e-cigarette market, compared to Juul's 72% market share. By September 2023, however, Vuse's market share stood at 41.5% versus Juul's 24.7% market share.
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Truth Tobacco Industry Documents is a digital archive of tobacco industry documents, funded by Truth Initiative and created and maintained by the University of California, San Francisco. The Library is a part of the larger UCSF Industry Documents Library which also includes the Drug Industry Document Archive, the Food Industry Documents Archive and the Chemical Industry Documents Archive. TTID contains over 14 million documents produced by major tobacco companies and organizations, many of them internal strategic memoranda made public as a consequence of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. The documents deal with the tobacco industry's advertising, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and scientific research activities for the last century. Researchers, journalists, students, and activists interested in tobacco control issues and public health policies use the Library extensively to investigate tobacco industry strategies. Research in this archive revealed the tobacco industry playbook and its parallels with techniques linked to climate change denial.
ITG Brands, LLC is the third-largest American tobacco manufacturing company in the United States. It is a subsidiary of British multinational Imperial Brands. ITG Brands markets and sells multiple cigarette and cigar brands and sells blu eCigs. The company was created in 2015 and has its production, headquarters, and regulatory compliance facilities located in Greensboro, North Carolina.
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$6.46 billion USD (2011)
