Pall Mall cigaretteA cigarette is a product consumed through smoking and manufactured out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives, then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder...
s are a brand of cigarettes produced by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in
Winston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to the tallest office buildings in the...
, and internationally by
British American TobaccoBritish American Tobacco Plc is a leading global tobacco company. It is based in London, United Kingdom and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
at multiple sites.
History
Pall Mall brand cigarettes were introduced in 1899 by the Butler & Butler Company, in an attempt to cater to the upper class with the first "premium" cigarette. Its name is taken from a 17th century game in which a player attempts to drive a wooden ball with a mallet down an alley and through a raised ring using as few strokes as possible; derived from Latin
palla and
malleus, or "ball" and "hammer", respectively. Pall Mall is also the name of a very upscale street in the West End of
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
.
In 1907, Pall Mall was acquired by American Tobacco with the sale of Butler & Butler. The new owners used the premium brand to test innovations in cigarette design, such as the "king-size" (now the standard size for cigarettes at 85mm), a new way of stuffing tobacco that supposedly made cigarettes easier on the throat.
Pall Malls reached the height of their popularity in 1960 when they were the number one brand of cigarettes in
AmericaThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The gambles in design had paid off and so the company introduced "longs", or 100mm cigarettes (again creating a standard, this time for long cigarettes). It would later be dethroned in 1966 by
Winston cigarettesWinston cigarettes are manufactured for or by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company or its newer incarnation as RJR Nabisco and/or its affiliates.The brand was introduced in 1954, and became the best-selling brand of cigarettes in the United States...
, when Pall Mall found that it could no longer compete with the advertising campaign "
Winston tastes good like a cigarette should"Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" is an enduring slogan that appeared in newspaper, magazine, radio, and television advertisements for Winston cigarettes from the brand's introduction in 1954 until 1972. It is one of the best-known American tobacco advertising campaigns...
." Ironically, in the 1940s, Pall Mall had its own grammatically incorrect slogan which touted it as the cigarette which "travels the smoke further", referencing the longer 85mm length. Their famous slogan during the '50s and early '60s was "OUTSTANDING...
and they are
MILD!".
In 1994, Pall Mall and
Lucky StrikeLucky Strike is a famous brand of American cigarettes, often referred to as "Luckies".- History :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 , and...
were purchased by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation as the former American Tobacco company shed its tobacco brands. Brown & Williamson merged with R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company on July 30, 2004, with the surviving company taking the name, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. R. J. Reynolds continues to make unfiltered and filtered styles of Pall Mall for the U.S. market, emphasizing the latter. British American Tobacco makes and sells Pall Mall outside the U.S.
Pall Mall currently is in the "Growth Brand" segment of the R.J. Reynolds brand portfolio. Within British American Tobacco, Pall Mall is one of their four drive brands.
Logo
The famous Pall Mall
logoA logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition...
has large
art nouveauArt Nouveau is an international movement and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century . The name 'Art nouveau' is French for 'new art'...
lettering spelling out "Pall Mall" on the top front of the pack. On the face is a white
coat of armsA coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
on the front and back of the pack. Showing two regal lions pawing the sides and a
knight'sA knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport...
helmet on top, the inside of the
shieldA shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or by glancing a blow to the side of the shield-user. Shields vary greatly in size, ranging from large shilds that protect the user's entire body to small shields that are mostly for use in...
reads "
Per aspera ad AstraPer aspera ad astra is a Latin phrase which means "To the stars through difficulties" as seen on an Apollo 1 plaque at launch complex 34.The phrase is one of many Latin sayings which use the expression Ad astra....
" or "Through hardships to the stars" which also appears on the state seal of
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
(as "
Ad Astra per aspera"). There is a banner underneath the shield that holds another Latin phrase, "
In hoc signo vincesIn hoc signo vinces is the rendition in Latin of the Greek phrase "ἐν τούτῳ νίκα", en toutōi nika, meaning "with this sign you shall conquer"....
" or "By this sign shall you conquer". The phrase was the one that appeared in a vision to Constantine before the
Battle of Milvian BridgeThe Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire...
where he was greatly out-numbered.
GodGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
instructed Constantine to put the
crossA cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run diagonally, the design is technically termed a saltire....
on all the shields of his men. The next day, Constantine was in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, victorious, paving the way for the
Edict of MilanThe Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire...
. The famous Pall Mall slogan, "Wherever Particular People Congregate", appears beneath the coat of arms.
Generally speaking, there are different designs for Pall Mall packs. It can be always identified on which market one or another pack of Pall Mall was bought. Nevertheless, the logo and the main features of it remain unchanging.
In 2007, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company changed the packaging color of Pall Mall Ultra Lights–both short and 100s–from light blue to orange to stop confusion between the Ultra Lights and the Lights–both having been in blue colored packaging.
Recently, the Pall Mall Lights' filter ring has changed from a gold color to a navy blue, matching both the box and the Pall Mall lettering on the filter.
The unfiltered blend is still sold in softpacks with the traditional style packaging and design.
In 2009, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company changed the "flavor" descriptors of the Pall Mall brand. Full Flavor is now called "Red", Lights "Blue", and Ultra Lights "Orange". The descriptor change occurred because the FDA will ban product descriptors such as "Light" and "Mild".
Cultural references
Pall Mall is the most frequently mentioned brand in stories and novels by author
Charles BukowskiHenry Charles Bukowski was a German American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Bukowski's writing was heavily influenced by the geography and atmosphere of his home city of Los Angeles, and is marked by an emphasis on the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol,...
, suggesting that he himself preferred them to other brands.
Philip K. DickPhilip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist whose published work during his lifetime was almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian...
extensively used the Pall Mall brand in his novel
UBIKUbik is a 1969 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. In 2005, Time magazine named it one of the 100 greatest English-language novels published since 1923; critic Lev Grossman described it as "a deeply unsettling existential horror story, a nightmare you'll never be sure you've...
in which they became a major plot device.
Kurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut, Jr. was an American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction including Slaughterhouse-Five , Cat's Cradle , and Breakfast of Champions...
, a Pall Mall smoker himself, used the brand in several of his novels. He was quoted as saying that they were:
a classy way to commit suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
Super Long Pall Mall cigarettes are the brand favored by
Daisuke Jigenis a fictional character in Monkey Punch's Lupin III series.- Abilities :Jigen is Lupin's marksman. He can perform a 0.3-second quick-draw and is amazingly accurate. He prefers to conceal his eyes using his hat, as it gives him a more enigmatic appearance; when one or both of his eyes are seen, it...
from the anime
Lupin III, also known as Lupin the 3
rd, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of Monkey Punch. The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's...
.
The male lead in the movie
Rosemary's BabyRosemary's Baby is a 1968 American horror/thriller film written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on the bestselling 1967 novel of the same name by Ira Levin. The film received mostly positive reviews and earned numerous nominations and awards. The film has led to numerous references in film,...
is seen with a carton of Pall Malls that he had just purchased.
Stephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American writer of contemporary horror fiction, science fiction, fantasy literature, and screenplays. An estimated 300–350 million copies of King's novels and short story collections have been sold, and many of his stories have been adapted for film, television, and...
uses Pall Mall in many of his works.
Pall Malls are seen in the famous hit "
GoodfellasGoodfellas is a semi-fictional crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
" when they steal a cigarette truck full of Pall Malls. Also, the scene where Henry is being followed by a helicopter shows a pack of Pall Malls on his dash board.
Joan Benny recounts in her book
Sunday Nights at Seven that her father
Jack BennyJack Benny , born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
received two cartons of Lucky Strike and two cartons of Pall Mall cigarettes every week in association with American Tobacco's sponsorship of his radio and TV show. Since Benny and his wife didn't smoke, they piled the cigarettes in Joan's closet. Joan started smoking at age 16, first with the Luckies, until they ran out, and then went to the Pall Mall's. She reports she didn't buy cigarettes for the first time until she was in her 30s.
John IrvingJohn Winslow Irving is an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978...
uses Pall Mall in his novel
The 158-Pound MarriageJohn Irving's third and perhaps darkest novel, The 158-Pound Marriage examines the sexual revolution-era trend of 'swinging' via a glimpse into the lives of two couples in a small New England college town who enter casually into such an affair, with disastrous consequences.-Plot summary:The...
.
Pronunciation
The cigarette's name is correctly pronounced with the rhyming couplet "pell mell," as made evident in old television and radio advertisements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr4duBBcCpA Pall Mall and its sister brand
Lucky StrikeLucky Strike is a famous brand of American cigarettes, often referred to as "Luckies".- History :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 , and...
were sponsors of the
Jack BennyJack Benny , born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
radio and television programs, and histories of the show recount how the American Tobacco company would dispatch numerous publicists to instruct the cast and staff of the correct pronunciation. With the dissipation of cigarette advertising, first with bans on radio, then television, the pronunciation has found a decidedly generational tone. Those who lived in the era of the audible advertisements pronounce it "pell mell" while those who have only the visual title of the packaging to refer to often use the increasingly more common phonetic "paul mall."
Wacky PackagesWacky Packages are a series of trading cards featuring parodies of North American consumer products. The cards were produced by the Topps Company beginning in 1967, usually in a sticker format. The original series sold for two years, and the concept proved popular enough that it has been revived...
spoofed the brand as "Paul Maul Peculiar Cigarettes."