"A whole 'nother smoke" or a cigarette in disguise: how RJ Reynolds reframed the image of little cigars

Abstract

Present-day consumption of little cigars rivals that of the early 1970s when sales of little cigars boomed. This boom was largely attributed to RJ Reynolds, and documents reveal how and why they became a powerful force in little cigar sales. RJ Reynolds designed a little cigar, Winchesters, for cigarette smokers and produced one as close to a cigarette as legally possible. Initially, RJ Reynolds intended to capitalize on the cigarette advertising broadcast ban, but the price and tax structure was more critical to Winchester's success. Today, the tobacco industry is fighting again to sustain its unique application of federal definitions for little cigars. Regulatory efforts are needed to close taxation loopholes for the little cigar.

FIGURE 1—

Doral cigarettes, Winchester little cigars, and Dutch Masters (large) cigars.

FIGURE 2—

Winchester little cigars volume and market share, by year: 1970–2004. Notes. Data for this figure were compiled from numerous Maxwell Reports (statistical surveys of the cigarette industry); data for 1998 could not be obtained. RJR = RJ Reynolds; TEI = Tobacco Exporter International.

FIGURE 3—

RJ Reynolds’s 1968 planning proposal for project CC (Winchester little cigar).