The Failure of Premier Cigarettes

Premier was a brand of smokeless cigarette manufactured and owned by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco company. The company, which was founded in 1875 released the said brand of cigarettes in 1988 to a test market. The test market was limited to the cities of St. Louis, Phoenix, Arizona, and Tucson. According to Horovitz (1989), Premier was designed into the size and shape of the conventional cigarette except the fact that its burning end had a small piece of carbon that could ignite, burn and aerosolize the tobacco. Contrary to the common belief that Premier was smokeless, the cigarette released trace amounts of smoke which would quickly dissipate into the air. Although the company invested approximately $300 million on the research, manufacturing, and the marketing of the Premier, the product was withdrawn from the market in 1989 due to its failure to acquire the expected market target (Horovitz, 1989).

The failure of Premier cigarettes to gain popularity among consumers may be attributed to several factors. Firstly, most consumers in the test market complained about the taste of the cigarettes with some claiming that it tasted like burning plastic while others asserted that it possessed a charcoal-like aftertaste (McGill, 1988). Additionally, some consumers affirmed that Premier lacked flavor, had an unpleasant smell and that it was too hot to hold. Alongside negative feedback from the test market, the cigarette received backlash from the American Medical Association (AMA) and other State-level medical organizations. These entities claimed that Premier encouraged the habit of smoking without addressing the associated health concerns such as nicotine addiction and the effects it had on nonsmokers since it would be difficult to detect smoke which serves as a warning to nonsmokers. In conclusion, the negative consumer feedback, as well as health concerns by several medical entities, led to the failure of Premier to gain market which consequently led to its withdrawal.

References

Horovitz, B. (1989). RJR Smokeless Cigarette Test Is Snuffed Out. latimes. Retrieved 18 April 2018, from http://articles.latimes.com/1989-03-01/business/fi-688_1_smokeless-cigarette.

McGill, D. (1988). ’Smokeless’ Cigarette’s Hapless Start. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 18 April 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/19/business/smokeless-cigarette-s-hapless-start.html