L&M

L&M is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Altria (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc.). The name comes from the tobacco company founded in 1873 called Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, predecessor of today's Liggett Group in which L&M was originally produced.

L&M
An old German pack of L&M cigarettes, with a German text warning which reads "Smoking can kill"
Product typeCigarette
OwnerAltria
CountryUnited States
Introduced1885 (1885)
MarketsSee Markets
Previous ownersLiggett & Myers
Tagline"American cigarettes of the highest quality with the best filter", "Come On Over To The L&M Side, Just For The Taste of It!"
Websitehttps://www.lm.com/

History

"L&M" was launched in 1885 by Liggett & Myers as a plug chewing tobacco.[1][2] In 1952 or 1953, the first L&M cigarettes were created and they were one of the earliest, perhaps the earliest brand to have a filter that was not a one-sided filter.[1][3] When "L&M" was launched, their motto was "American cigarettes of the highest quality with the best filter". When their success in the American market was solidified, Liggett Group made a proposal to take the brand international. In 1999, the L&M trademark rights were acquired by the largest tobacco company in the United States, Philip Morris, and are still produced by them today.[1]

The brand is popular in Latin America, central and northern Europe, the Arab World and the far east and south Asia. They were not very common in the continental US until a new roll out made them available in October 2007. According to the information of the independent agency of field investigation "Business Analytics", the second quarter of 2007, Phillip Morris brands took the first place in 25 Russian cities with a market share of 29.92%.

During a press conference, it was reported that "L&M" takes third place in the world by sales volume. Also, the "L&M" brand took second place among other cigarette brands produced by Phillip Morris International. Due to the labeling regulations in Europe banning the use of the word 'lights', the names used to indicate the strength of the cigarettes had been changed, e.g., L&M Lights are now called L&M Blue Label. The same happened in 2010 in the U.S. when the Food and Drug Administration banned flavour descriptors—such as "mild," "light" and "ultra light"—even though the color designations were already changed like in Europe.

In December 1997, the ingredients that go into L&M cigarettes were displayed on the cartons. In addition to blended tobacco and water, the 26 ingredients that go into L&M cigarettes include molasses, phenylacetic acid and oil of patchouli.[4]

L&M was the fourth largest cigarette brand in the world, with 92 billion cigarettes produced in 2007. In 2016, L&M had a volume of 97 billion produced cigarettes. It is the third best-selling international cigarette brand outside the United States and China.[3]

Marketing

Over the years, Liggett & Myers made many poster and magazine advertisements to promote the brand, which included famous slogans such as "No cigarette ever went so far so fast!".[5][6][7][8][7][9][10][11][12][13] Hollywood celebrities such as Barbara Stanwyck, Rosalind Russell and Fredric March starred in various print advertisement to promote the brand by claiming that L&M filters were "Just what the doctor ordered!".[14][15][16]

Various TV advertisements were also created. The most known ones were the "Just What The Doctor Ordered", "Live Modern", "Stay Fresh, Stay Fresh With L&M", and "Come On Over To The L&M Side" ads.[17][18][19][20][21]

Markets

L&M cigarettes are sold in the United States, Mexico, Ireland, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Poland, India, Czech Republic, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Thailand Guatemala, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea.[5][22]

Controversy

L&M and doctor-approved cigarettes

In the 1950s, L&M introduced an ad campaign called "Just What The Doctor Ordered!". This campaign came at the time L&M introduced the first filtered cigarette that became popular. In these L&M advertisements from the early 1950s, "just what the doctor ordered" had a double-meaning. Not only did it imply that L&M cigarettes were satisfying in that they offered both flavour and protection, but it also implied that doctors approved of the brand, a testament to the brand's healthfulness. In a typical advertisement that appeared in a February 1954 issue of Life magazine, Hollywood star Fredric March made an assertion after having read the letter written by a "Dr Darkis" that was inset into the advertisement. Darkis explained in this letter that L&M filters used a "highly purified alpha cellulose" that was "entirely harmless" and "effectively filtered the smoke".[23][24][17]

Similar contemporaneous advertisements from Viceroy claimed that their filtered cigarettes were healthy because doctors recommended Viceroys to patients. Obviously, these ads claimed health benefits for filters, though filters actually did little to truly reduce the hazards of smoking. In fact, tobacco industry chemists were well aware that most filters actually removed no more tar and nicotine than would the same length of tobacco. However, a series of Reader's Digest articles worked to publicize these dubious health claims for filters in the 1950s.

One such article, entitled "How Harmful are Cigarettes?" (1950), noted that artificial filters took out some nicotine since people were aware that nicotine was a killer. The article stated that silica-gel cartridges removed 60% of nicotine from cigarettes. This article spurred Viceroy to print advertisements a week later which read: "Reader's Digest tells why filtered cigarette smoke is better for your health." These health claims sparked a boom in Viceroy cigarette sales as well as an onslaught of new filter cigarette brands flooding the market. Kent was introduced in 1952 with a filter made of treated asbestos on crepe paper. In 1953, L&M followed with a miracle tip and Philip Morris advertised its di-ethylene glycol (Di-Gl) filter cigarette as the cigarette that took the fear out of smoking. In the next two years, Marlboro was re-released as a filter cigarette which targeted men (it had previously been a cigarette targeting women, with a beauty tip to protect the lips), and Winston was introduced with an advertising budget of $15 million.[6]

Bulgarian Customs destroy counterfeit L&M cigarettes

On July 21, 2011, the Bulgarian customs authorities and Phillip Morris Bulgaria representatives organized the destruction of over 7 million counterfeit cigarettes bearing the mark L&M. The destroyed cigarettes were part of over 14.5 million cigarettes seized by the Bulgarian customs officials in September 2010 and February 2011 at the border checkpoints Kulata and Ilinden, southwestern Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s Customs Agency and Philip Morris Bulgaria had signed a cooperation agreement aimed at fighting the illicit trade of tobacco products. L&M cigarettes made 3 percent of all seized cigarettes in Bulgaria in 2010 and 9 percent of all seized cigarettes during the first five months of 2011.[25]

Sponsorship

Motorsports

L&M was the sponsor for Carl Haas Racing from the 1970 Can-Am season to the 1971 Can-Am season.[26]

L&M sponsored one of the Ducati bikes that Ben Bostrom drove in 2001 and 2002.[27][28] The company also sponsored the Derbi factory team competing in the 2001 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season on the 125cc class.[29]

Television shows

L&M, as well as Kellogg's, were the main sponsors of the Hotel de Paree television show from October 2, 1959, until June 3, 1960.[17]

Gunsmoke, even advertised off-camera by Matt Dillon (James Arness) and Doc Adams (Milburn Stone)

Products
An assortment of L&M cigarettes sold in the United States.
From left to right: full flavor shorts; full flavor 100s (both red); lights (dark blue); ultra lights (light blue); menthol shorts; menthol 100s (both dark green); menthol light shorts; menthol light 100s (both light green). Not shown: Turkish Blend shorts; Turkish Blend 100s (both light yellow); L&M Kretek

United States
  • L&M Red (Full Flavor) Box - Kings and 100s
  • L&M Blue Pack (Lights) Box - Kings and 100s
  • L&M Menthol Box - Kings and 100s
  • L&M Menthol Box light green - (lights) Kings and 100s
  • L&M Bold Menthol Box - Kings
  • L&M Turkish Blend Box (Lights) - Kings and 100s
  • L&M Turkish Night Box (Full Flavor) - Kings and 100s

Puerto Rico
  • L&M Red (Full Flavor) Box - Kings and 100's
  • L&M Blue (Lights) Box - Kings
  • L&M Green (Menthol) Box - Kings and 100's

Brazil
  • L&M Red Label (King Size) (discontinued?)
  • L&M Blue Label (King Size)
  • L&M Silver Blue Label (King Size)
  • L&M Kretek by Sampoerna (King Size)
  • L&M Black Ice (King Size)
  • L&M Activate 2 in 1 (King Size)
  • L&M Vibe 100 Extra Slim

Sweden
  • L&M Red Label
  • L y m gabda
  • L&M Blue Label
  • L&M Forward
  • L&M Forward 2 in 1

Finland
  • L&M Red Label (white-red)
  • L&M Blue Label (Blue)
  • L&M Silver Label, also known as L & M One (silver)
  • L&M Menthol (green)
  • L&M Menthol Cool (Light Green)
  • L&M Extra Menthol (dark green, resilient goat filter)
  • L&M Full Flavor Menthol (White-Green)
  • L&M Forward (dark blue, in the filter capsule, which must be clicked to bring the taste of menthol.)
  • L&M Just Blue Box (Additive-free Lights)
  • L&M Just Red Box (Additive-free Full Flavor)
  • L&M Golden (also called L&M White)
  • L&M X-Slims

Germany
  • L&M Filter Red Label
  • L&M Red Label 100
  • L&M Blue Label
  • L&M Frost Label (with menthol flavor )
  • L&M Night
  • L&M Blue Label 100
  • L&M About
  • L&M Red without additives
  • L&M Blue without additives

AE

Poland
  • L&M Red Label (formerly Full Flavor )
  • L&M Blue Label (formerly Lights )
  • L&M Silver Label (formerly Super Lights )
  • L&M Green Label (formerly Menthol Cool and Menthol )
  • L&M Link Red ( SuperSlims )
  • L&M Link Blue ( SuperSlims )
  • L&M Triple Mint ( SuperSlims )
  • L&M Link Easy Stix ( SuperSlims )
  • L&M Link Easy Stix Mint ( SuperSlims )
  • L&M Forward ( Blue Label variant with a menthol capsule in the filter, activated after compression)
  • L&M Forward Double ( Blue Label variant with two capsules in the menthol and berry filter ) withdrawn in 2017, in connection with the EU directive prohibiting the sale of flavor cigarettes
  • L&M Original Red Label 24's [ needed footnote ]
  • L&M True Taste Red (no flavor, Lucky Strike Authentic alternative)
  • L&M True Taste Blue
  • L&M Link Forward 2 IN 1 (SuperSlims)

Czech Republic
  • L&M Red Label (hard, red)
  • L&M Blue Label (Light, Blue)
  • L&M Orange Label (even lighter, orange)
  • L&M Silver Label (lightest, silver)
  • L&M Link (slim)
  • L&M Forward (cracked)
  • L&M Double Forward (crackling with two menthol capsules)
  • L&M Green Label (mint - "mint")

Algeria
  • L&M Red label
  • L&M Blue label

Philippines
  • L&M Filter Kings
  • L&M Lights
  • L&M Menthol
  • L&M Menthol Lights

Singapore
  • L&M Double Forward
  • L&M Extra Menthol
  • L&M Purple
  • L&M Chill
  • L&M Electro Blast
  • L&M Red Line

Ukraine
  • L&M Red label
  • L&M Blue label
  • L&M Silver label
  • L&M Loft Night Blue
  • L&M Loft Blue
  • L&M Loft Sea Blue
  • L&M Loft Mix
  • L&M Loft Double Splash

See also

References
  1. "Liggett Vector Brands - Age verification". liggettvectorbrands.com.
  2. "Old History for L&M Cigarettes - Special Presentation". Storify.
  3. "Building Leading Brands". www.pmi.com.
  4. "L&M now listing cigarette ingredients on cartons". 3 December 1997.
  5. "L&M". www.zigsam.at.
  6. "Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising". tobacco.stanford.edu.
  7. "L&m Cigarettes Price Per Pack". cigarettesbuycustomer.
  8. "1976 L&M Cigarette NY Twin Towers Statue Liberty WTC Ad - Adaholic".
  9. Limited, Alamy. "Stock Photo - L&M Cigarettes advert with James Arness in 1958". Alamy.
  10. "Vintage 1959 L&M Cigarettes Tobacciana Magazine Ad Mid Century Wall Art 11x14 - eBay". eBay.
  11. "L&M Cigarettes Advertising Sign". iCollector.com Online Auctions.
  12. "L&M Cigarettes (1972)".
  13. "L&M Cigarettes Grand Canyon The Proud Smoke 1975 vintage original old magazine ad tobacco". Paper Alcove.
  14. HOROVITZ, BRUCE (24 July 1988). "SELLING A HEALTH HAZARD : Cigarette Ads Have Gone From False Promises to Obscure Images; Soon They May Just Be Gone for Good" – via LA Times.
  15. "Magazine Ad For L&M Filter Cigarettes, Just What The Doctor Ordered, Rosalind Russell, 1954 - Magazines Ads and Books Store". magazinesadsandbooks.com.
  16. "Hazards Explored". Encountering the truth:
    State of minnesota v. phillip morris inc    .
  17. "Cigarette TV Ads - L&M - 1954-1970" – via Internet Archive.
  18. Throwback (6 October 2009). "L&M Cigarettes Commercial #1 (1962)" – via YouTube.
  19. Throwback (6 October 2009). "L&M Cigarettes Commercial #2 (1966)" – via YouTube.
  20. Throwback (6 October 2009). "L&M Cigarettes Commercial #4 (1967)" – via YouTube.
  22. "Brands". www.cigarety.by.
  23. Gardner, Martha N.; Brandt, Allan M. (1 February 2006). ""The Doctors' Choice Is America's Choice"". American Journal of Public Health. 96 (2): 222–232. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.066654. PMC 1470496. PMID 16434689.
  24. "'Just What The Doctor Ordered': How Cigarette Firms Conned Smokers".
  25. "Bulgarian Customs Destroy Counterfeit L&M Cigarettes - PETOŠEVIĆ". www.petosevic.com.
  26. "Aero Anomaly - 1971 Lola T260 Chevrolet Can Am". Camrades. April 17, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  29. "Derbi factory team launch new colors for the new season". motogp.com. February 15, 2001. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
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