Today is, by enforcement of the World Heath Organization, World No Tobacco Day, a day dedicated to cutting the public’s use of cigarettes, cigars, vape pans, chaw, and any other medium by which we consume tobacco leaves. According to the CDC, tobacco-related deaths remain, to this day, the number one form of preventable death in America, and similar stats can be found all over the world. As we have learned from PSAs, health class, and even the cast of Cats, cigarettes are indeed hurtful to the human body.
But – and here’s the kicker – they’re still cool. Cigarettes not only look cool and sexy, but their dangerousness belies a rebellious edge in the smoker. Back in 1991, a clever marketing guru named BJ Cunningham decided to bank on the known dangers of tobacco with a specially branded form of cigarette simply called Death.
Check Out: When ‘Vape’ was Added to the Oxford English Dictionary
Death cigarettes were founded in England, but quickly made their way to the U.S., and were readily available in the usual places one finds cigarettes. When they were released, many thought that they were a marketing ploy by comedian Denis Leary, who, on his album No Cure for Cancer, joked that smokers don’t care about health warning labels on cigarettes, and would be enthused about a cigarette that came in a black pack with a skull-and-crossbones on it. Leary was just spitballing, and had nothing to do with Death cigarettes, but that’s exactly what they were: Cigarettes that came in a black pack, and had a skull-and-crossbones on the label.
Death cigarettes came at a time when the tobacco industry was beginining to be heavily scrutinized for their claims that cigarettes really aren’t that bad for you. It was well known that cigarettes could kill you, but no one in the industry was willing to stand up in a court and say as much. Death cigarettes, in defiance of the popular image of lying cigarette execs, elected to “be honest” about cigarettes. Our product will indeed kill you. At least we’re honest.
The brand was never wholly mainstream, but plenty of smokers bought them up, happy to thrust their punk rock embrace of death right into the faces of non-smokers and tobacco execs alike. The brand, however, experienced many troubles along the way. In 1994, they sought to sponsor F1 Formula racer Ayrton Senna, but the racer famously died shortly before the deal went through, making the sponsorship a little ironic. Over the decade, Death bled money for every orifice, unable to stage a major marketing campaign, selling by clever packaging alone. In 1999, they were sued by a booze company called Black Death, and the brand was effectively ushered to its grave.
The one question that will remain unanswered here is the matter of how they were as cigarettes. None of the marketing posited that Death provided upscale tobacco, a new type of smoking experience, or any sort of artisanal bent to their construction. They were, as far as we can tell, generic cigarettes in a clever box. Perhaps is Death had bothered to bolster their product in a way other than an attitude and a package – perhaps offering stronger tobacco flavor, a higher nicotine high, or a filterless variety – then they would have lasted to this day. Not likely, as smoking is on the wane and vaping has taken its place. At least for the time being. How long before we have Death brand vapes?
Top Image: Bill Branson, National Cancer Institute
Witney Seibold is a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and the co-host of The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon. He also contributes to Legion of Leia and to Blumhouse. You can follow him on “The Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
