Caballero (cigarette)

Caballero is a Dutch brand of unfiltered cigarettes owned and manufactured by British American Tobacco. Caballero is the Spanish word for knight.

Caballero
Product typeCigarette
OwnerBritish American Tobacco
Produced byBritish American Tobacco
CountryNetherlands
Introduced1940s
MarketsNetherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain

History
An old Dutch pack of Caballero cigarettes

Caballero was founded shortly after World War II. In 1945, the Dutch advertising agency Prad (synonym for "progressive" and "advertising") was formed, and created the famous slogan "Caballero, anders dan andere." ("Caballero, different than the others." in English) in which popular Dutchmen, mainly from the artistic parts of society, promoted the product (Ramses Shaffy, the young Jeroen Krabbé and Henk van Ulsen, who later claimed he never smoked, were a few examples).[1] A song was also created by the Dutch amusementband Leedy Trio, called "Ay-ay-ay! -die Caballero".[2] The cigarettes had a market share of 4% in the 1950s due to the lack of popularity in comparison to the more popular brands Roxy and Lexington at the time, the simple look of the pack (which was associated with people who were "second-class citizens") and because the cigarettes (which were then sold in packs of 20, instead of the current packs of 25) cost 0.80 cents (about €0.36 today) compared to other brands, which cost 1 Dutch guilder. Instead of increasing the price to 1 guilder for 20 cigarettes, there was opted to put 25 cigarettes in one pack, effectively offering more cigarettes for 1 guilder. The move turned out to be a success, increasing Caballero's market share from 4 to 36% in just a few years, also thanks to the effective advertising campaigns with the famous "Mexicaantje" ("Mexican" in English).[1]

The cigarettes were produced in the Caballero factory (part of the factories of Ed Laurens) in Nieuw Binckhorst. Production moved to Zevenaar after BAT acquired the factory in 1995.[3]

Main market is the Netherlands. Other markets are or were Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Spain.[4][5][6]

Sport sponsorship

Caballero sponsored the cycling team of Jan van der Horst from 1962 until 1972 and participated in the 1970 Tour de France under the "Caballero-Laurens" name.[7]

See also

References
  1. "Paul Mertz". Paulmertz.nl. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  2. "Ay-ay-ay! -die Caballero / O, wat een sigaret!". YouTube. 27 June 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  3. "Caballero Fabriek – Geschiedenis". Cabfab.nl. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  4. "BrandCaballero - Cigarettes Pedia". Cigarettespedia.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  5. "Caballero". Zigsam.at. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  6. "Brands". Cigarety.by. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  7. "Slogblog - Slogblog Wielerblog". Wielersport.slogblog.nl. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
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