Red Man is a leading brand of
chewing tobaccoChewing tobacco refers to a form of smokeless tobacco furnished as long strands of whole leaves and consumed by placing a portion of the tobacco between the cheek and gum or teeth and chewing. Unlike dipping tobacco, it isn't ground and must be mechanically crushed with the teeth to release...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, produced since 1904. Red Man has traditionally come as leaf tobacco, in contrast to twist chewing tobacco or the ground tobacco used in
snuffSnuff is ground or pulverized tobacco, which is generally inhaled or "snuffed" through the nose. It is a type of smokeless tobacco. There are several types, but traditionally it means Dry/European nasal snuff...
, and became a leader in that form of dental tobacco. It is made by the Pinkerton Tobacco company of
Owensboro, KentuckyOwensboro is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky and the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about 32 miles southeast of Evansville, Indiana and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 55,512 at...
. In 1985, Pinkerton was acquired by a
SwedishSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
corporation and, after further corporate reshuffling, the Red Man brand now falls under the umbrella of the
Swedish MatchSwedish Match is a Swedish company based in Stockholm that makes snus, tobacco, cigars , Red Man Chewing Tobacco, dipping tobacco, matches and lighters. It was founded as Svenska Tändsticksaktiebolaget by Ivar Kreuger in 1917 in Jönköping...
company, which in turn is owned primarily by
institutional investors.
Red Man is a leading brand of
chewing tobaccoChewing tobacco refers to a form of smokeless tobacco furnished as long strands of whole leaves and consumed by placing a portion of the tobacco between the cheek and gum or teeth and chewing. Unlike dipping tobacco, it isn't ground and must be mechanically crushed with the teeth to release...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, produced since 1904. Red Man has traditionally come as leaf tobacco, in contrast to twist chewing tobacco or the ground tobacco used in
snuffSnuff is ground or pulverized tobacco, which is generally inhaled or "snuffed" through the nose. It is a type of smokeless tobacco. There are several types, but traditionally it means Dry/European nasal snuff...
, and became a leader in that form of dental tobacco. It is made by the Pinkerton Tobacco company of
Owensboro, KentuckyOwensboro is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky and the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about 32 miles southeast of Evansville, Indiana and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 55,512 at...
. In 1985, Pinkerton was acquired by a
SwedishSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
corporation and, after further corporate reshuffling, the Red Man brand now falls under the umbrella of the
Swedish MatchSwedish Match is a Swedish company based in Stockholm that makes snus, tobacco, cigars , Red Man Chewing Tobacco, dipping tobacco, matches and lighters. It was founded as Svenska Tändsticksaktiebolaget by Ivar Kreuger in 1917 in Jönköping...
company, which in turn is owned primarily by
institutional investors. The proportion owned by non-Swedish investors is approximately 80%.
Early in its history, Red Man advertisements were painted on the sides of barns, featuring an endorsement from baseball player
Nap LajoieNapoléon "Nap" Lajoie [la-ZHWAH, or often la-ZHWAY, per the Canadian French pronunciation; or, as he himself usually pronounced it, LAJ-a-way] , also known as Larry Lajoie, was an American major league baseball player of French Canadian descent from Woonsocket, Rhode Island...
: "Lajoie chews Red Man, ask him if he don't." Red Man was initially sold in a few
MidwesternThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
states; it expanded (in 1954) into the
SouthThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
and then (in 1963) largely nationwide. The corporation's marketing material describes Red Man's consumer base: "A large number of consumers work outdoors and enjoy hunting, fishing and watch [sic] auto racing." Contemporary materials from Swedish Match also suggest that the brand name came from something of an homage to
American IndianNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
s.
Marketing tie-ins with rural and outdoor sports have been a hallmark of the Red Man brand. From 1952 to 1955, Red Man produced a series of baseball cards, the only tobacco company to do so after 1920. Since then, the brand has sponsored competitive events including the "Red Man-All American Pulling Series", a
tractor pullingTruck and tractor pulling, also known as power pulling, is a competition using tractors and large trucks to pull a heavy sled along a 'track' and is very popular in rural areas. Usually the sled offers progressively greater resistance as it is pulled...
circuit, and the "Red Man All-American Bass Championship", a
fishingFishing is the activity of catching fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
competition. In 1991, under pressure from the
Federal Trade CommissionThe Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
, which was enforcing a 1986 U.S. statute banning television ads for
smokeless tobaccoSmokeless Tobacco may refer to:* Dipping tobacco, a type of tobacco that is placed between the lower or upper lip and gums.* Chewing Tobacco, a type of tobacco that is chewed.* Snuff, a type of tobacco that is inhaled or "snuffed" through the nose....
, Red Man agreed to stop displaying its "product logo, selling message or the color or design of the tobacco product or its package" during televised coverage of the tractor pulls. The competitive fishing circuit that culminated in the Bass Championship was sponsored by the company and called the "Red Man Tournament Trail" from 1983 to 2000, after which
Wal-MartWal-Mart Stores, Inc. is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large, discount department stores. It is the world's largest public corporation by revenue, according to the 2008 Fortune Global 500. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and...
took over as the name sponsor.
Despite product warnings and federally mandated marketing prohibitions, Red Man remains a popular and profitable brand. There are currently six types of Red Man: the original blend, the higher nicotine Golden Blend, Gold Blend Totems, Select, Silver Blend, and Plug.
External links
- Shorpy A photograph of outdoor advertising in Camden, NJ, 1939, showing the Red Man brand.