Silk Cut Cigarettes

Silk Cut is a British brand of cigarettes. Gallaher Group, part of Japan Tobacco, owns and manufactures these cigarettes. The packaging is easy to recognize. It is a white packet with the brand name in a purple, blue, red, silver, white, or green square.

Key Points Silk Cut Сigarettes

• Established Brand: Silk Cut Cigarettes were introduced in 1964 and have become a well-known brand in the market.
• Distinct Packaging: The brand is easily recognizable by its stark white packets with colored squares, available in purple, blue, silver, white, and green.
• Range of Varieties: Silk Cut offers several varieties to cater to different preferences, including Silk Cut Purple, Blue, Silver, White, and Menthol.
• Lower Tar and Nicotine Options: The brand is known for its lower tar and nicotine content, appealing to health-conscious smokers.
• Historical Use of Cytrel: Initially, Silk Cut cigarettes contained 75% tobacco and 25% Cytrel, a cellulose-based tobacco substitute, though this is no longer the case.
• Advertising and Sponsorship: Silk Cut is notable for its surreal advertising campaigns and sponsorship of the Challenge Cup in rugby league.
• Royal Warrant: Gallaher Group, the production company, held a Royal Warrant for 122 years, which was revoked in 1999 due to anti-smoking campaigns.
• Innovative Filters: The lower nicotine levels in Silk Cut are due to the filter design, which mixes smoke with air through additional holes.
• Adaptation and Popularity: Silk Cut has maintained its popularity through various special edition packs and continuous innovation in packaging and product offerings.

History Of Silk Cut Cigarettes

Silk Cut was first introduced in 1964. At that time, the cigarettes contained about 75% tobacco. The rest was Cytrel, a tobacco substitute made from cellulose. Today, Cytrel is no longer used. Silk Cut cigarettes are now additive-free.

In 1984-1985, the English professional rugby league competition, the Challenge Cup, was named the Silk Cut Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from the company. This sponsorship continued through the 1980s and 1990s.

Silk Cut became popular in the 1970s and 1980s. As the dangers of smoking became well known, many smokers switched to lower-tar brands like Silk Cut. Silk Cut cigarettes have a lower tar content compared to stronger brands like Benson and Hedges or Marlboro. For example, Silk Cut has 5 mg of tar, which is less than half the tar content of the stronger brands.

Gallaher, the production company, held a Royal Warrant of Appointment for 122 years. However, Queen Elizabeth II revoked the warrant in 1999. This decision was influenced by the anti-smoking campaign of her son, the then Prince of Wales. Gallaher had one year to remove the Royal Coat of Arms from the packaging.

The Silk Cut Challenge Cup sponsorship ended in 2001. Silk Cut is now available in various versions, including lower-tar and ultra-low-tar versions. For instance, Silk Cut Blue has 0.3 mg of nicotine and 3 mg of tar. Silk Cut Silver has 0.1 mg of nicotine and 1 mg of tar. Silk Cut White has 0.01 mg of nicotine and 0.5 mg of tar. There is also a ‘100s’ range and a menthol-flavored cigarette.

It is often thought that Silk Cut tobacco contains less nicotine than other brands. This is not true. The lower nicotine levels are due to the filter design. The filter has more holes than regular filters, mixing the smoke with air.

In 2013, Silk Cut released limited edition packs to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary.

Advertising Campaigns

In the 1970s, Silk Cut was advertised in cinemas. One advertisement was a parody of the defence of Rorke’s Drift, as shown in the film Zulu. Another was about British POWs escaping from a German prison camp.

In 1984, Silk Cut launched a surrealistic advertising campaign. This was in preparation for a ban on named tobacco advertising. The first advertisement showed a purple silk cloth with a single cut, revealing a white background behind it. The cigarette brand’s name did not appear in the advertisement. There were no objects related to smoking, such as cigarette packs or smoke. The only hint was the mandatory health warning at the bottom.

This advertisement was based on a series of works by artist Lucio Fontana. It was a wordplay on the brand name Silk Cut. The campaign was a success and made Silk Cut the best-selling brand in the early 1990s. Silk Cut continued to produce advertisements in this style. They used surrealistic themes and pop culture references, like Man Ray’s “Cadeau” and Alfred Hitchcock’s famous shower curtain scene from the movie Psycho. Later, they created original surrealistic themes for their ads.

The idea behind using surrealism was to catch the viewer’s attention. The viewer had to solve a riddle to guess the advertised product or brand. This created a rewarding sensation for the viewer and attached positive emotions to the brand. However, some people interpreted darker and sexual themes in the images, though this was likely not intended.

The final poster in the series was in 2002. This was when all tobacco advertising in the UK was banned. The poster showed an opera singer in a purple silk dress that had split at the seams. This referred to the saying, “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.”

Despite the end of the campaign, Silk Cut sales continued to grow. This was due to sport sponsorships and special edition packs. The brand’s market share grew by 1.1% from 2004 to 2008 and by 2.9% from 2008 to 2011.