John Player & Sons, known simply as
Player's, was a
tobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
and
cigaretteA cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
manufacturer based in
NottinghamNottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is today a part of the
Imperial Tobacco GroupImperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
.
History
In March 1828, William Wright set up a small tobacco factory in Broadmarsh, Nottingham. This business expanded and earned Wright a comfortable fortune. John Player bought the business in 1877. He had the Castle Tobacco Factories built in
Radford, NottinghamRadford is an inner-city area of Nottingham, located just outside the city centre itself.-History:Radford is bounded on the south by Lenton and Nottingham, and comprises around of land....
, just west of the city centre). He had three large factory blocks built, but initially only one was used to process and pack tobacco. The other two blocks were let to lace manufacturers until the business had expanded enough to use the additional space.
One of John Player's innovations was to offer pre-packaged tobacco. Before this, smokers would have bought tobacco by weight from loose supplies and cigarette papers to roll them in. He also adopted a registered trade mark as a guarantee to the public that the goods could be relied on.
The business was run later by Player's sons John Dane Player and William Goodacre Player.
In 1901, in response to competitive threats from the USA, Player's merged with the Imperial Tobacco Group. The largest constituent of Imperial Tobacco was W. D. & H. O. Wills and the new group was run from Wills' head office in
BristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. However, Players retained its own identity with cigarette brands such as 'Navy Cut', 'No.6', 'John Player Special' and 'Gold Leaf' and its distinctive logo of a smoking sailor in a 'Navy Cut' cap, and loose tobacco brands such as 'No Name'.
A new factory (the 'Horizon' factory) was opened in the early 1970s on Nottingham's industrial outskirts, with better road access and more effective floor space, next to the headquarters of Boots the Chemists.
The old factories in Radford, especially the cavernous No 1 Factory which occupied the whole area between Radford Boulevard and Alfreton Road, bordered by Player Street and Beckenham Road were gradually run down. The No 2 Factory, facing onto Radford Boulevard with its distinctive clock (now plinthed in the retail park on the site) and the No 3 factory (which faced onto Churchfield lane) with its rooftop 'John Player & Sons' sign, were demolished in the late 1980s. The iron railings and gates onto Radford Boulevard from the present retail park are the ones that surrounded No 2 Factory – the large gates (present vehicle access) were the entrance to the factory yard between No 2 and No 3 factories and the smaller gates were the pedestrian entrances to No 2 factory itself.
Sponsorship
John Player's brands are well known in motor racing from their long association with the
LotusTeam Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
Formula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
team, and
NortonNorton is a British motorcycle marque, originally from Birmingham, founded in 1898 as a manufacturer of "fittings and parts for the two-wheel trade". By 1902, they had begun manufacturing motorcycles with bought-in engines. In 1908, a Norton-built engine was added to the range...
motorcycleA motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
racing team.
Car racing
John Player's sponsorship of Team Lotus began with the
Lotus 49The Lotus 49 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1967 F1 season. It was designed around the Cosworth DFV engine that would power most of the Formula One grid through the 1970s and was the first successful Formula One car to feature the engine as a...
in Gold Leaf colours at the
1968 Monaco Grand PrixThe 1968 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Monte Carlo Circuit on May 26, 1968. It was the third round of the 1968 Formula One season. The race was won by Lotus driver Graham Hill, who started from pole position...
, continued with the
Lotus 72The Lotus 72 was a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe of Lotus for the 1970 Formula One season.- Development :The 72 was yet another innovative design by Chapman featuring inboard brakes, side mounted radiators in sidepods, as opposed to the nose mounted radiators which...
, which changed to the black and gold John Player Special colours in
1972The 1972 Formula One season was the 23rd FIA Formula One season. It featured the 23rd World Championship of Drivers, the 15th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship season commenced on January 23 and ended on October 8 after...
and ended in
1986The 1986 Formula One season was the 37th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 23, 1986, and ended on October 26 after sixteen races....
with the
Lotus 98TThe Lotus 98T was a development of the Lotus 97T of 1985. Of the four chassis built three were assigned to Ayrton Senna, now in his second year with Team Lotus, and one to team mate Johnny Dumfries....
.
BMWBayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
owned the JPS livery in
touring car racingTouring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars. It is notably popular in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Scandinavia and Britain.-Characteristics of a touring car:...
in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the 1980s. In 1984 BMW released a limited-edition road version of its
323iThe BMW 3 Series is a compact executive car manufactured by the German automaker BMW since May 1975. Successor to the BMW New Class, it has been produced in five different generations and in no less than five different body styles. It is BMW's best-selling model, accounting for around 30% of the...
touring car in JPS colours to the Australian market.
Player's brands also sponsored the
Forsythe Championship RacingForsythe/Pettit Racing is a racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe and Dan Pettit. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing.-History:...
team in
Champ CarChamp Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
racing until tobacco advertising in automotive series was banned midway through 2003.
Motorcycle racing
John Player began sponsoring Norton motorcycle racing in November 1971. The racing was successful and Norton produced a version of the
Norton CommandoThe Norton Commando is a British motorcycle with an ohv pre-unit parallel twin engine, launched by the Norton Motorcycle company in 1967. Initially a nominal 750 cc displacement, actually , in 1973 it became an 850 cc, actually ....
in John Player colours to exploit it. However, Norton's
NVTNorton Villiers Triumph was a British motorcycle manufacturer, formed by the British Government to continue the UK motorcycling industry, but the company eventually failed.-Formation:...
parent company commercially declined and John Player withdrew sponsorship in 1974.
In the 1980s Norton Motorcycles was revived and in 1988 John Player resumed racing sponsorship. The racing succeeded again and in 1990–91 Norton produced a road-going version of its RCW588 racer, the
Norton F1The F1 is a road-going sports model that Norton based on its RCW588 racing motorcycle. The F1 was offered in only one livery: black with gold decals and grey and gold stripes, to reflect John Player's sponsorship of Norton's race team. It was distinctive for using a 588 cc liquid-cooled...
. In 1991 Norton again commercially declined and John Player withdrew sponsorship for a second time.
Other events
The company also sponsored an influential series of celebrity lectures at the National Film Theatre between 1968 and 1973. Well over 100 international film stars took the stage to introduce screenings and discuss their career. The series was revived at the end of the 1970s as the
GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
Lectures.
In the 1970s Players operated a steamboat,
HeroHero is a steam-powered pinnace, a small boat of the type used, for example, as a tender to larger vessels, believed to have been built as an electric launch, by Andrews of Maidenhead, England in 1895, with the name Avondale....
, for promotional purposes.
Player's sponsored the Canadian Open tennis championship in the 1980s.
Today
Player's still trades, but with a much reduced workforce (down to about 700 employees due to increased efficiency). It is no longer one of Nottingham's 'Big Three' employers (the other two being Boots the Chemists and Experian.
Today, John Player Special and John Player King Size are manufactured by
Imperial TobaccoImperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
, whereas John Player Gold Leaf is manufactured by
British American TobaccoBritish American Tobacco p.l.c. is a global tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second largest quoted tobacco company by global market share , with a leading position in more than 50 countries and a presence in more than 180 countries...
(in some countries), and ranks as one of the best selling and most popular tobacco products in Pakistan. It's also present in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the Gulf. In South Asia, it is one of the biggest brands in the High category brand list.
The JPS brand has also been repositioned in the last several years and is now a UK mid-price cigarette brand.
Player's cigarettes are available in the following varieties:
- Player's Plain (unfiltered)
- Player's Filtered (regular — now known as Player's Original)
- Player's Medium
- Player's Light (now referred to as Player's Rich)
- Player's Light Smooth
- Player's Extra Light
- Player's Navy Cut
- John Player Specials (JPS) (original black and gold, and also silver, blue and menthol in the UK)
- Richmond
Richmond are a value brand of tobacco cigarettes re-introduced into UK markets in 1999. They come in the following varieties: Regular, Gold and Menthol - all three in King Size and Superking sizes...
(Regular, Gold and Menthol in King Size and Superking sizes)
- John Player King Size (Known as '20 Blue' or 'Johnny Blue' in the Republic of Ireland)
- All new John Player Standard
- John Player (blue) (also known as Johnnie Blues)
- John Player (bright blue)
- John Players Gold Leaf (Special)
In Canada, Players is manufactured by Imperial Tobacco Canada and is available in the following varieties, in both regular and king size:
- Player's Original Flavour
- Player's Rich Flavour
- Player's Smooth Flavour
- Player's Plain
- Player's Black & Red
- Player's Black & Gold
- Player's Black & Silver
- John Player Standard Blue
- John Player Standard Silver
- Player's Special Blend
Cigarette cards
Player's were one of the first UK tobacco companies to include sets of general interest cards in their packs of cigarettes. One of the first sets, produced in 1893, was 'Castles and Abbeys'. These cards were generally produced in sets of 50 and have since become highly collectable. Other sets produced include 'Footballers' (1926), 'Civil Aircraft' (1935) and 'Motor Cars' (1936).
John Player & Sons issued more than 200 sets of cards and some were reprinted in the 1990's.
Cultural references
- Procol Harum
Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
's 1969 album A Salty DogA Salty Dog is an album by the Rock band Procol Harum, released in June 1969. Having an ostensibly nautical theme, as indicated by its cover , interspersed with straight rock, blues and pop items A Salty Dog showed a slight change of direction from its predecessors, being thematically less obscure...
has a cover inspired by the Player's Navy Cut sailor logo.
- In Ian Fleming's
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
1961 James BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novel Thunderball, Bond's love interest Domino VitaliDominetta Vitali, known simply as Domino, is a fictional character and the main Bond girl in the James Bond novel, Thunderball. For the 1965 film adaptation with the same title, her name was changed to Dominique Derval , and she was portrayed by French actress Claudine Auger...
fantasises at length about the sailor depicted on the Player's Navy Cut logo.
- The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu
The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
made a remark about John Player in the Queen and I, a track on their album 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)1987 is the debut album of The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu . 1987 was produced using extensive unauthorised samples which plagiarised a wide range of musical works, continuing a theme begun in The JAMs' debut single "All You Need Is Love"...