 A pack of Sobranie Cocktail cigarettes, with a warning message at the bottom | |
| Product type | Cigarette |
|---|---|
| Owner | Japan Tobacco |
| Produced by | Gallaher Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Introduced | 1879 |
| Markets | See § Markets |
| Carcinogenicity: IARC group 1 | |
Sobranie [a] is a brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Gallaher Group, a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco. [1]
The Balkan Sobranie tobacco business was established in London in 1879 by Albert Weinberg (born in Romania in 1849), whose naturalization papers dated in 1886 [2] confirm his nationality and show that he had emigrated to England in the 1870s at a time when hand-made cigarettes in the Eastern European and Russian tradition were becoming fashionable in Europe. [3] It is one of the oldest cigarette brands in the world. [4] Albert's young cousin Isaiah Redstone (1884–1963) joined him in the business and registered the "Balkan Sobranie" trademark, later shortened to Sobranie. [5] By 1910, Albert was manufacturing at 34 Glasshouse Street, London. [6] After Albert's death, Isaiah Redstone and his sons Charles Coleman Redstone (1911–1994) and Dr. Isidore Redstone (1925–2022) continued to own and manage the business. In the early 1980s, the Sobranie trademarks were sold to Gallaher Group, which continued production with a modified formula at various locations in Europe. Gallaher was subsequently purchased by Japan Tobacco in 2007.
Throughout its existence, Sobranie was marketed as the definition of luxury in the tobacco industry, being adopted as the official provider of many European royal houses and elites around the world including the Imperial Court of Russia and the royal courts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Spain, Romania, and Greece. [7]
Premium brands include the multi-coloured Sobranie Cocktail and the black and gold Sobranie Black Russian, which are produced in Ukraine. Sobranie Cocktail, Black Russian and White Russian variants are emblazoned with the Russian imperial double-headed eagle.
Sobranie was a sponsor of the Jordan Grand Prix team in 2004 and 2005. The logos were displayed on the front, side and rear wing of the cars. [8] [9] [10] In countries where tobacco sponsorship was forbidden, the logos were removed or replaced. Sobranie was primarily a replacement for Jordan's primary tobacco sponsor, Benson & Hedges (a Gallaher-owned brand in the United Kingdom), in the United States Grand Prix, to circumvent the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), as a clause in the settlement meant Philip Morris USA (who holds the Benson & Hedges trademark in the United States) was only permitted to sponsor Team Penske in American open-wheel racing with their Marlboro brand. [11]
Sobranie cigarettes were mainly sold in the United Kingdom until the introduction of plain packaging, but also were or still are sold in Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, France, Georgia, Greece, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Malaysia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan and Ukraine as well as many duty free shops in airports. [12] [13] [14]
Marlboro is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA within the United States and by Philip Morris International outside the US. In Canada, a separate product using the Marlboro brand is owned and manufactured by Imperial Tobacco Canada, while the international product is distributed in Canada by a unit of PMI under the name "Rooftop". Marlboro's largest cigarette manufacturing plant is located in Richmond, Virginia.
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan and was based at Silverstone, UK but raced with an Irish licence.
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Parliament is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA in the United States and Philip Morris International outside of the United States.
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Historically considered a masculine habit, the feminization of smoking occurred in tandem with the advent of fashion brands or premium brands of cigarettes specifically marketed toward women. Most often this is focused on young fashion-conscious professional ladies who are the target demographic for these brands, which are differentiated by slimness and added length over traditional brands of cigarettes. This development of the female market occurred in tandem with an expansion of the "luxury cigarette" concept aimed at men and women, through the appearance of "luxury, opulence and sophistication" of packaging.
The Jordan EJ14 was the car with which the Jordan team competed in the 2004 Formula One season. The car was driven by Nick Heidfeld, Giorgio Pantano and Timo Glock.
The Jordan EJ15 was the fifteenth and last Jordan Formula One car. It was used by the team to compete in the 2005 Formula One season. The car was driven by Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan.
Barclay was an American brand of cigarettes manufactured by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in the United States and by British American Tobacco outside of the United States.
LD is an international brand of cigarettes, currently owned by Japan Tobacco. It is manufactured in Turkey by JT International U.S.A. for the United States market.
Elita is a Latvian brand of cigarettes that was produced between 1967 and 2009 by the Latvian company "Rīgas Tabakas Fabrika" and later by British American Tobacco. According to the data submitted by the Latvian State Revenue Service, Elita was the most sold brand of filtered cigarettes in Latvia for about twenty years.
JTI - Japan Tobacco International is the international tobacco division of Japan Tobacco, one of the three largest international Big Tobacco product manufacturers. The holding company is JT International SA and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan; Geneva, Switzerland; and Raleigh, North Carolina. It sells its brands in 120 countries.
As nicotine is highly addictive, marketing nicotine-containing products is regulated in most jurisdictions. Regulations include bans and regulation of certain types of advertising, and requirements for counter-advertising of facts generally not included in ads. Regulation is circumvented using less-regulated media, such as Facebook, less-regulated nicotine delivery products, such as e-cigarettes, and less-regulated ad types, such as industry ads which claim to discourage nicotine addiction but seem, according to independent studies, to promote teen nicotine use.
