 | |
| Product type | Cigarette |
|---|---|
| Owner | British American Tobacco |
| Produced by | Subsidiaries ofBritish American Tobacco |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Introduced | 1921; 105 years ago (1921) |
| Markets | SeeMarkets |
| Previous owners | Carreras Tobacco Company,Rothmans International |
| Tagline | "Will Not Affect Your Throat","For Your Throat's Sake" |
| Carcinogenicity:IARC group 1 | |
Craven A(stylized asCraven "A") is a British brand ofcigarettes, currently manufactured byBritish American Tobacco.[1] Originally founded and produced by theCarreras Tobacco Company in 1921 until merging withRothmans International in 1972, who then produced the brand until Rothmans was acquired byBritish American Tobacco in 1999.
The cigarette brand is named after thethird Earl of Craven,[2] after the "Craven Mixture", a tobacco blend formulated for the 3rd Earl in the 1860s by tobacconist Don José Joaquin Carreras.[3]
After the end ofWorld War I, the cigarette market resumed its normal competitive spirit with the Carreras Tobacco Company once more well to the fore.Bernhard Baron, a director of Carreras, knew that to compete successfully his product had to be better than his competitors' and in 1921 Carreras launchedCraven "A", using the name of the3rd Earl of Craven. Presumably its name did not refer to the normal meaning of the word 'craven' (cowardly);[4] beyond the historic connection to the "Craven Mixture" tobacco blend, the year of release of the Craven "A" brand coincided with the well-publicised death of the4th Earl of Craven in a yachting accident on 10 July 1921.[5] It was the first machine-madecork-tipped cigarette,[2] and it became a household name in over 120 countries with the slogan"Will Not Affect Your Throat".
Following the success of Craven A, several other companies launched cork-tipped cigarettes which enjoyed varying degrees of success. Few (if any) of these remain available as of 2019.
At the same time as Craven A was pioneering a new fashion in cigarette smoking, the competition was moving in on thecoupon business. Carreras participated in this market with their Black Cat brand.
The brand was widely used inWorld War II not only byBritish soldiers, but in general.[6] Craven A was one of several brands donated by tobacco manufacturers to soldiers' rations in the hope of developing ongoing brand loyalty.
Also during the Second World War, GeneralCharles de Gaulle, in exile inLondon, had difficulties in obtaining his usual French brown cigarettes brandGitanes. Consequently, he started smoking Craven A and apparently took a liking to the blonde tobacco, which until then had been rare inoccupied France.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, chain-smoked fifty Craven A cigarettes a day, even while terminally ill withtuberculosis.[citation needed]
Craven 'A' started using the slogan"For Your Throat's Sake" around 1939. It had a famous slogan,"Will Not Affect Your Throat".[7][8]
Many advertising posters were made to promote Craven 'A' cigarettes.[9][10][11]
In May 2014, Carreras Limited warned that counterfeit Craven A cigarettes were being sold in Jamaica. The counterfeits were said to be non-compliant with Jamaican Public Health labelling regulations.[12][13]
Craven 'A' were or still are sold in the following countries:Canada,United States,Jamaica,United Kingdom,Germany,Greece,France,Austria,Italy,Cyprus,Ivory Coast,South Africa,Palestine,Vietnam,Malaysia,China,Taiwan,Hong Kong andAustralia.[14][15][16][17]
The company sponsored the 1981Craven Mild Cup Rugby League tournament in New South Wales, Australia. Craven 'A' sponsored events in Canada such as the "Just for Laughs" Canadian Comedy Tour in March 1999.[18] The company was also a long-time sponsor of Australian racing driverAllan Grice.
Craven 'A' cigarettes appeared in the James Bond novelDr. No.
Shanghai beggars in J.G Ballard's novelEmpire of the Sun are described as 'shaking their Craven A tins like reformed smokers.'
Craven 'A' cigarettes are mentioned inPatricia Highsmith's novelThe Price of Salt, where they are smoked by Carol, one of the main characters. They are not shown in the2015 film of the novel.
Craven 'A' cigarettes are also mentioned in the Irish authorBenjamin Black's mystery book "Even the Dead", where they are smoked by Lisa Smith, a young lady in distress. Quote from the book:'She opened her handbag and took out a packet of Craven A and a box of matches.'
Craven ‘A’ cigarettes were also the cigarettes of choice for the father of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as mentioned in the book by his younger sister,Fatima Jinnah.[19]
Craven ‘A’ cigarettes are the subject of a memorandum made by George Orwell to himself, in his published diaries, of detail to incorporate in a potential future novel. The diary entry for 3rd February 1936 recounts a visit to Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire, England, which was part-frozen at the time. The sound being made by the ice as it is rocked by the wind is described by Orwell as “the most melancholy noise I ever heard”. He writes: “[Memorandum] to use in novel some time and to have an empty Craven A packet bobbing up and down among the ice.”[20]
The name of this brand is taken anecdotally in the songLes Bêtises bySabine Paturel and in"Le Chien" byLéo Ferré.[21][22] The name "Craven A" is also included in the song"Tendresse et amitié" byRobert Charlebois and the text is written byRéjean Ducharme.[23]The brand is also mentioned in the 1982 songLost Mi Love byYellowman.[24]
According to his biographer, the French actorJean Gabin was a regular smoker of filterless Craven A, which he alternated withGitanes. In the filmPasha, a package of Craven A is visible on the desk of"Commissioner Louis Joss", Gabin, as well as inLe cave se rebiffe.
In the 1978 filmDeath on the Nile, Simon Doyle is asked byMonsieur Poirot if his fiancée, the wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway, smokes, to which he responds "Just Craven 'A'".
In the 1983 film, "An Englishman Abroad," the leading actor, Alan Bates, recites the Craven A tagline (Craven A, for your throat's sake).
The British Craven A cigaret brand serves to illustrate this type of post-facto intersected marque denotational ambiguity; the dictionary definition of the adjective 'craven' standing in stark contrast to what one presumes is the positive connotations of the Earl of Craven for whom they were (officially) named.
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