Lucky Strike is a brand of American cigarettes, often referred to as “Luckies”. In the 1930s, Lucky Strike was the top selling cigarette in the United States.
The brand was first introduced by R.A. Patterson of Richmond, Virginia, in 1871 as cut-plug chewing tobacco and later a cigarette. In 1905, the company was acquired by the American Tobacco Company (ATC), and Lucky Strike would later prove to be its answer to R. J. Reynolds’ Camel.
Advertising photo for Lucky Strike, 1936.
In 1917, the brand started using the slogan “It’s Toasted” to inform consumers about the manufacturing method in which the tobacco is toasted rather than sun-dried, a process touted as making the cigarette’s taste more desirable.
In the late 1920s, the brand was sold as a route to thinness for women. One typical ad said, “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet.” Sales of Lucky Strikes increased by more than 300% during the first year of the advertising campaign. Sales went from 14 billion cigarettes in 1925 to 40 billion sold in 1930, making Lucky Strike the leading brand nationwide.
As a result of British American Tobacco plc buying out American Tobacco Company in 1976, Lucky Strike came under control of BAT. The company acquired Formula 1s Tyrrell Racing team in 1997 and rebranded it as British American Racing the following year, sponsoring the team with its Lucky Strike and stablemate 555 brands. The team was bought outright by partners Honda by 2006, though Lucky Strike continued to sponsor the team until the end of that year.
Lucky Strike Original Silver
The brand’s signature dark green pack was changed to white in 1942. In a famous advertising campaign that used the slogan “Lucky Strike Green has gone to war”, the company claimed the change was made because the copper used in the green color was needed for World War II. American Tobacco actually used chromium to produce the green ink, and copper to produce the gold-colored trim. A limited supply of each was available, and substitute materials made the package look drab. However, the truth of the matter was that the white package was introduced to modernize the label and to increase the appeal of the package among female smokers; market studies showed that the green package was not found attractive to women, who had become an important consumer of tobacco products. The war effort became a convenient way to make the product more marketable while appearing patriotic at the same time.
In 1978 and 1994, export rights and U.S. rights were purchased by Brown & Williamson. In the 1960s, filtered styles were launched in addition to a mentholated version called “Lucky Strike Green”. This time “Green” was referring to menthol and not to the overall package color. In late 2006, both the Full Flavored and Light filtered varieties of Lucky Strike cigarettes were discontinued in North America. However, Lucky Strike will continue to have marketing and distribution support in territories controlled by British American Tobacco as a global drive brand. In addition, R. J. Reynolds continues to market the original, non-filter Lucky Strikes in the United States. Lucky Strikes currently have a small base of smokers.
In 2007, a new packaging of Lucky Strikes was released, with a two-way opening which split seven cigarettes from the rest. In the same year, the company used the world’s smallest man, He Pingping, in their ad campaigns.
In 2009, Lucky Strike Silver (the brand marketed as lighter) changed their UK packets from the quintessential red design to blue, albeit with a red teaser outer covering the packet.
Cultural references
The cigarette brand is referenced in many modern forms of media. In the MSX2 version of the video game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, a fictionalized version of the brand called Lucky Striker is said to be the protagonist’s favorite. In the Tom Waits song “Kentucky Avenue”, the first-person speaker refers to his or her “half pack of Lucky Strikes”. Lucky Strikes can also be seen on a piano in Ralph Bakshi’s 1981 animated film American Pop.
In the AMC show Mad Men, Don Draper (Jon Hamm) has Lucky Strike as an advertising client for his company, Sterling Cooper. One of the key issues is the fact that advertising companies can no longer use doctor’s statements to say smoking is good for you. They must find a new way to advertise cigarettes. Don comes up with the idea of advertising Lucky Strikes and not cigarettes as a whole.
Former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms handed out Lucky Strike cigarettes, which were his personal brand of choice, in his Senate office to meeting attendants until it became “utterly unfashionable.”
