Peter Stuyvesant (cigarette)

Peter Stuyvesant is a brand of cigarettes currently owned by British American Tobacco and manufactured by the American Cigarette Company. In Australia and New Zealand, the brand is manufactured by Imperial Tobacco. The cigarette brand is named after Petrus Stuyvesant, Governor of New Amsterdam, later New York City.

Peter Stuyvesant
An old French pack of Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes, with a French text warning at the bottom of the pack.
Product typeCigarette
Produced byBritish American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco (Australia and New Zealand only)
CountrySouth Africa
Introduced1954 (1954)
MarketsSee Markets
Previous ownersReemtsma (Germany only)
Tagline"The scent of the big wide world: Peter Stuyvesant.", "The taste of the whole wide world."

History

Peter Stuyvesant was initially launched in South Africa in 1954 and later test marketed in New York in 1957, the brand was officially launched worldwide in the same year.[1][2][3] "The scent of the big wide world: Peter Stuyvesant." is the famous slogan, which was created in 1958 by the Swiss Fritz Bühler. In the 1980s the slogan was changed to "The taste of the whole wide world." British American Tobacco bought the brand in 2003.[1]

In the 1980s, the brand enjoyed an increase in sales thanks to various advertising campaigns in cinemas and by offering the cigarettes in the airplanes of the Dutch airline company KLM.[4][5] The brand is sold in 55 countries and is especially popular in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, as well as most parts of Europe, but is less known in the United States.[2]

In 2015, a tax increase in Malaysia saw Peter Stuyvesant, as well as various other BAT branded cigarettes, increase in price. Peter Stuyvesant and Pall Mall cigarettes went from 12.30 to 15.50 Malaysian ringgit, an increase of 3.20 Malaysian ringgit.[6]

Peter Stuyvesant Foundation

In 1960, the president of Turmac Tobacco Company, decided to hang works of art above the machines of the Peter Stuyvesant factory in Zevenaar, Gelderland, (Netherlands). Over a period of thirty years, more than a thousand works by contemporary artists from thirty-seven countries have been collected. These works regularly circulated between the Amsterdam headquarters and the various factories around the world, in Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland. They were also shown in museums in the Netherlands and abroad. The Zevenaar factory has been granted the status of a National Museum. Starting in 1980, the Foundation offered Turmac workers the opportunity to acquire original works in a limited edition of 100 copies. In 2010, the collection was dispersed.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

Controversy

In 2009, Imperial Tobacco Australia hosted a VIP party in a building owned by the South Australian state government, which funds anti-smoking campaigns, to promote its Peter Stuyvesant brand. The annual Peter Stuyvesant secret VIP party had become a legend among A-listers. Supposedly held in a different city every year, the party was labelled as one of the biggest and most lavish on the corporate calendar. The top-secret, invitation-only event was held in the Queen's Theatre, a non-smoking venue belonging to the History Trust of South Australia.

Senator Nick Xenophon described the cigarette industry as "parasitic" and urged the government to cancel the event, but the state Substance Abuse Minister Jane Lomax-Smith said she would not "interfere" with the party. "While we are making life tougher for cigarette companies, we wouldn't interfere in the affairs of a legitimate business running a private function in a no-smoking venue," she said.[13][14][15]

In 2016, it was reported that Imperial Tobacco Australia was selling cut-price premium brand cigarettes imported from Ukraine in various Coles, IGA and Foodworks stores for as low as 20 Australian Dollars a packet. Fairfax Media bought cigarettes from Imperial Tobacco's line of brands that were from two countries of origin - New Zealand and the Ukraine. The Ukrainian-made Imperial Tobacco cigarettes were between $3 and $6 cheaper than the company's cigarettes made in New Zealand, depending on the brand and the location of the store. The brand at the centre of the change was the popular, premium brand, Peter Stuyvesant Blues. The Ukrainian version was called "Peter Stuyvesant Originals Blue", while the NZ version was dubbed "Peter Stuyvesant Classic Blue". A spokeswoman for Imperial Tobacco claimed the company had changed its country of import to provide cut-price cigarettes to the Australian market. "The Ukraine-manufactured product is a brand extension. Our Ukrainian facility has the machinery necessary to manufacture this particular product. The balance of that brand family is manufactured in NZ," she said.

Also in 2016, Imperial Tobacco Australia deployed a new trick to circumvent the plain packaging legislation, by inserting soft packs inside hard packs, effectively allowing people to take the cigarettes out with the soft pack and throw away the hard pack which featured the required graphic pictorial warnings. That ruse was mainly used for Peter Stuyvesant cigarette packs. A spokeswoman for Imperial Tobacco denied the company was breaking the law before adding: "we are providing a fresher, premium product to consumers".

It wasn't the first time Imperial Tobacco tried to circumvent these regulations. A report in 2011 by Quit Victoria mentioned the brand's previous behaviour, noting: "In February 2006, one month prior to the adoption of picture‐based warnings on tobacco packages, Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes were being sold in 'trendy retro‐style tins' which, unlike soft packets of cigarettes with on‐pack printed warnings, had health warning stickers that were easily peeled off. Retailers reported that the tins were very popular with younger smokers".[16]

In 2017, the Health Department conceded it would not be taking any action against Imperial Tobacco for breaching plain packaging legislation. Court action which could involve penalties of more than a million dollars imposed on the tobacco giant, but the Department chose to take what it called a "conciliatory" approach.[17]

Advertisement of Stuyvesant cigarettes at the 1959 Bloemencorso Bollenstreek.

Markets

Peter Stuyvesant is or was sold in the following countries: Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey, Senegal, Zambia, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.[18][19][20] Hungary

Products

See also

References
  1. "Smoke a Peter Stuyvesant! New Amsterdam leader becomes a cigarette, the "international passport to smoking pleasure" - The Bowery Boys: New York City History". Boweryboyshistory.com. 3 May 2012. Archived from the original on 28 November 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  2. "BrandPeter Stuyvesant - Cigarettes Pedia". Cigarettespedia.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  3. "British American Tobacco South Africa - Our brands". Batsa.co.za. Archived from the original on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  4. "The Lost World of Peter Stuyvesant? - KLM Blog". Blog.klm.com. 24 May 2015. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  5. "Here's The Old Peter Stuyvesant Commercial Everyone Loves [Video]". 2oceansvibe.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  6. "Pack of Dunhill, Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes to cost RM3.20 more tomorrow". Theedgemarkets.com. 3 November 2015. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  7. (fr) Delarge, Fondation Peter Stuyvesant Archived 2019-10-11 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. (nl)RKD, Le musée dans l'usine : collection Peter Stuyvesant’’ Archived 2019-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  9. (nl)RKD, Peter Stuyvesant graphic art collection, 2002 Archived 2019-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Peter Stuyvesant Cultural Foundation : Australian Gallery File, on Trove-National Library of Australia.
  11. "Peter Syuyvesant Foundation". Archived from the original on 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  12. Colin Gleadell, Peter Stuyvesant art collection to be sold, 1 March 2010 Archived 12 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine on Telegraph.co.uk.
  13. "Secret smokes party for VIPs". Adelaidenow.com.au. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  14. Pearlman, Jonathan (12 September 2012). "Australian tobacco accused of 'sick joke'". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  15. "Extra cigarette promo panned". Thewest.com.au. 12 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  16. Thompson, Lachlan. "Stub you: How a tobacco giant is bypassing packaging rules". Sunshinecoastdaily.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  17. Thompson, Lachlan. "How a tobacco giant gamed Australian laws and won". Qt.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  18. "BrandPeter Stuyvesant - Cigarettes Pedia". Cigarettespedia.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  19. "Peter Stuyvesant(". Zigsam.at. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  20. "Brands". Cigarety.by. Archived from the original on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.