Kool cigarettes – the “classic” brand of America
KOOL brand is considered to be “classic” cigarettes style. They are regarded as the “classic” brand of America and that of menthol cigarettes.
It was created in 1933 (at the height of the Great Depression) by the company Brown and Williamson Tobacco and became the first brand of menthol cigarettes, which have a truly national popularity because unlike other brands of menthol cigarettes, they were never presented as the “products for women “.
That is why, starting with small consumer circles, the brand quickly began to gain momentum, becoming a market leader in this sector of the tobacco industry and holding these positions before the start of the new, twentieth century.
Initially, these cigarettes were not filtered. Since 1952, these cigarettes were produced and marketed as King Size, with 85-mm tip, which later, in 1967, gave a way to the traditional cigarettes with the filter length of 100 mm.
In the 1970s, the brand range was expanded. Within a decade, four variations were launched: Kool Milds, Super Lights (these were later replaced by Ultra), International and Lights. Later, the manufacturer teamed up with the company R.J.Reynolds Tobacco.
The corporation created by the merging of those two companies was named as Reynolds American, and it is still engaged in the production of Kool cigarettes in the United States, supplying them to Europe, South America, Japan, Jamaica. By the way, the cigarettes, which are released now, have a little resemblance to those that enjoyed the millions of smokers in the last century. The original version was withdrawn from turnover in 1994 and “reissued” in 2003.
The strong blend of American tobacco sorts was replaced with the Virginia tobacco. But the manufacturers did not dare to modify the characteristic flavor of the frosty menthol freshness. As for the packaging, its design (Kool inscription with the crossed letters “O” on a green background) did not change for over 60 years, although the additional advertising brand, which was introduced in 1940, was decorated with a number of cartoons on the reverse side.
In 1990, the package image was added with a waterfall, but this publicity stunt, however, did not have much success. So, in the early 2000s, the brand returned to the original concept while just a small re-design of the packaging was admitted.
Now, it is a green or blue field with a vertical inscription «Kool», which is located right on the front of the pack (the letter “O” in the inscription is still familiar).