Kent is a brand of cigarettes. Kent’s Micronite filter was introduced shortly after the publication of a series of articles in Reader’s Digest in 1952 entitled “Cancer by the Carton,” that scared American consumers into seeking out a filter brand at a time when most brands were filterless. (Viceroy cigarettes had been the first to introduce filters, in 1936.)
Kent Nanotek Infina and Kent Nanotek Neo Cigarettes
From March 1952 until at least May 1956, however, the Micronite filter in Kent cigarettes contained carcinogenic blue asbestos. Kent now uses charcoal filters (a form of activated carbon).
The brand is the property of British American Tobacco Nassi group.
The brand is named after Herbert Kent, a former executive at Lorillard Tobacco Company.
Cultural references
In the documentary, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit, the Beatles overhear a Kent cigarettes radio commercial, expressing sarcastic interest in it:
Radio Announcer: Looking for a filtered cigarette that really satisfies?
Paul McCartney: Looking for one?
Radio Announcer: One that will give you the pleasure you want in smoking.
McCartney: I am, yes.
Radio Announcer: Well, look no more. There is a cigarette that gives you the satisfaction you are looking for today.
McCartney: Which one!?
Radio Announcer: Kent!
John Lennon: KENT!
Radio Announcer: With the exclusive Micronite filter.
(Kent “Satisfies the Best” theme song plays. Lennon whistles along.)
The brand was the sponsor of The Dick Van Dyke Show.
In 1965, the Ray Conniff Singers had a hit song called “Happiness Is”, which listed various examples of things that make people happy (“To a preacher, it’s a prayer-prayer-prayer / To a Beatle, it’s a ‘Yeah-Yeah-Yeah'” and so on). The same group, or a soundalike group, produced a series of commercials for Kent that were written to the same tune and style, with the punch line always being, “To a smoker, it’s a Kent.”
