Lucky Strike cigarettes are a brand of American cigarettes. Under this brand, chewing tobacco was first produced. One of the oldest cigarette brands, it has a history since 1869. In 1905 it was acquired by American Tobacco Company (ATC), which later became British American Tobacco.

According to its own data, in 2007, 23 billion cigarettes were distributed under this brand for sale in more than 80 countries.

The brand was introduced by RA Patterson in 1871 in the form of chewing tobacco and then cigarettes. In 1905 the company was acquired by the American Tobacco Company.

A legend says that RA Patterson bought a tobacco factory that was badly damaged by the fire, which in turn was the result of a strike.

The new owner did not throw away the burned tobacco, but mixed it with the usual one, unexpectedly having a new taste. The name for the mixture was invented ambiguous, lucky strike, usually translated as “unexpected luck”, can mean “a successful strike”.

In 1917 the slogan “It’s Toasted” was used, which informed the customers about a new technique for drying tobacco – “frying”, and not drying in the sun.

In the same year, the inscription “L.S.M.F.T.” (“Lucky Strike means fine tobacco”) appears on the package.

In 1935, ATC began sponsoring “Your Hit Parade”, the popularity of the brand increased sharply and did not decline for about 25 years. A series of ads was launched with the participation of famous Hollywood actors, for example, it starred Douglas Fairbanks.

The proprietary dark green pack changed color to white in 1942 under the slogan “Lucky Strike Green has gone to war”. The company explained the change in packaging by the fact that they used copper and chromium, which were needed during the Second World War.

The war was an excellent cover to make the packaging more attractive and at the same time more patriotic. There is a legend that during the Second World War the pilots who dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki said after the hit: “Lucky strike. It’s toasted! “And if you look closely at the pack, it becomes obvious that this is the flag of Japan.

In 1978 and 1994, the rights to export were acquired by Brown & Williamson.

In the 1960s, filtered cigarettes appeared as the Lucky Strike Green (the word “green” meant the presence of menthol in cigarettes, and not the color of the pack). At the end of 2006, in North America, the production of Luckies was curtailed, but British American Tobacco continues to promote and support the brand.

R. J. Reynolds continues the production of cigarettes without a filter. In 2007, there is a new “double” packaging, where 7 cigarettes were separated from the rest. In the same year, the advertisement was starred by He Pingping (He Pingping), the smallest person on the planet.