Date:  Wed, 5 Apr 1995 13:43:00 PDT

From:  Rose Wilcox <RWILC[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FAST.DOT.STATE.AZ.US>

Subject: FW: Cigarette brands. Help, please!



>I chose to make a list of

>cigarette brands, American or imported, that can be purchased in the USA=

>including in the list information about the social, ethnic, age-related,=

>sex-related, class-related or any other connotations or meanings that

>American people connect with these brands.

>For this I ask your help. What brands are there? Are there brands that=

>carry special meanings, and which brands could be seen as "neutral" -

>suitable for any smoker?



You don't mention More on your list. I used to smoke More. I

found that very few people smoked them, especially Menthols,

so I didn't have to share them very often. In fact, most people,

even the ones who most commonly "bummed" all of there

cigarettes, would turn them down when offered. They are long

cigarettes with dark brown paper. I learned to smoke them

when I was 17 which was 20 years ago, from my then-current

boyfriend who was black, and I was white. Other than that I

don't know if there are any connotations of class, etc.

I saw an identical cigarette in France; it was named "Time"

rather than "More".

>Prince  <don't know anything about

>Marlboro <I think this would be a working class cigarette, mostly male

I

Dunhill (GB) <don't know, never seen em

Rothmans (GB) <don't know, never seen em

Basic <don't know - is it a cheapie?

Montclair < don't know, sounds middle class doesn't it...

Kool <This may be another working class brand, not as common as Marlboro

Camel <I'd say definitely a working class brand, mostly male

Chesterfield < don't know

Pall Mall <don't know

Winston <don't know

Salem <Sort of like Kool

Lucky Strike <I'd guess, working class

Philip Morris <don't know

John Player Special (GB <don't know

Kent <don't know -- maybe middle class?

Benson & Hedges (GB) <they do sell this in America - I think it is a more

Middle Class cig

Newport <I think this is a middle class cig...

Silk Cut (?) <never seen em

Barclay (?) <I see this, but don't have a feeling about them

Boston (?) < never seen em

Colt (?) <never seen em

Cartier (?) < never seen em

L&M (?) <don't know, sounds familiar

Death (?) <They sell these at used tape stores and head shops, they're hip,

young

           rebellious people smoke them

Peter Stuyvesant (?) <don't know, maybe middle class?

YSL, Yves Saint-Laurent (?) <never seen em

Gitanes (French) <never seen em

Gauloises (French) <never seen em



There are several female-oriented brands in America, but I'm not

aware of them currently.

I feel more sure of working class brands than middle class, I guess.

I haven't smoked for about 4 and 1/2 years, so I haven't kept track

of styles....

Good luck!

******

Rosie (NorthCrowe)

rwilc[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]fast.dot.state.az.us

ncrowe[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]primenet.com

"Unless I accept my virtues, I most certainly will be overwhelmed by my

faults."

Robert G. Coleman