Peter Stuyvesant (cigarette)

The Peter Stuyvesant brand was initially launched in South Africa in 1954 and later test marketed in New York in 1957, the brand was officially launched worldwide in the same year.[1][2][3] "The scent of the big wide world: Peter Stuyvesant." is the famous slogan, which was created in 1958 by the Swiss Fritz Bühler. In the 1980s the slogan was changed to "The taste of the whole wide world." British American Tobacco bought the brand in 2003.[1]

In the 1980s, the brand enjoyed an increase in sales thanks to various advertising campaigns in cinemas and by offering the cigarettes in the airplanes of the Dutch airline company KLM.[4][5] The brand is sold in 55 countries and is especially popular in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, as well as most parts of Europe, but is less known in the United States.[2]

In 2015, a tax increase in Malaysia saw Peter Stuyvesant, as well as various other BAT branded cigarettes, increase in price. Peter Stuyvesant and Pall Mall cigarettes went from 12.30 to 15.50 Malaysian ringgit, an increase of 3.20 Malaysian ringgit.[6]

(Left): Portrait of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Netherland, from whom the brand took its name; (right): advertisement of Stuyvesant cigarettes at the 1959 Bloemencorso Bollenstreek

In 1960, the president of the "Turmac Tobacco Company", decided to hang works of art above the machines of the Peter Stuyvesant factory in Zevenaar, the Netherlands. Over a period of thirty years, more than a thousand works by contemporary artists from thirty-seven countries have been collected. These works regularly circulated between the Amsterdam headquarters and the various factories around the world, in Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland. They were also shown in museums in the Netherlands and abroad.

Starting in 1980, the Foundation offered the workers of the tobacco factory the opportunity to acquire original works in a limited edition of 100 copies. In 2010, the collection was dispersed.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

The Zevenaar factory office has been granted the status of National Monument being one example of the building style "Het Nieuwe Bouwen" of the interwar period. Since 2010 it's in use as the municipality hall of Zevenaar. One of the former production halls has been granted the status of Municipal Monument. Since 2015 it's in use as the Turmac Cultureel Centrum. The remaining buildings of the factory complex were demolished. On the terrain a new neighbourhood will arise, named "BAT" after the British American Tobacco Company, the last owner of the plant.

In 2009, Imperial Tobacco Australia hosted a VIP party in a building owned by the South Australian state government, which funds anti-smoking campaigns, to promote its Peter Stuyvesant brand. The annual Peter Stuyvesant secret VIP party had become a legend among A-listers. Supposedly held in a different city every year, the party was labelled as one of the biggest and most lavish on the corporate calendar. The top-secret, invitation-only event was held in the Queen's Theatre, a non-smoking venue belonging to the History Trust of South Australia.

Senator Nick Xenophon described the cigarette industry as "parasitic" and urged the government to cancel the event, but the state Substance Abuse Minister Jane Lomax-Smith said she would not "interfere" with the party. "While we are making life tougher for cigarette companies, we wouldn't interfere in the affairs of a legitimate business running a private function in a no-smoking venue," she said.[13][14][15]

In 2016, it was reported that Imperial Tobacco Australia was selling cut-price premium brand cigarettes imported from Ukraine in various Coles, IGA and Foodworks stores for as low as 20 Australian Dollars a packet. Fairfax Media bought cigarettes from Imperial Tobacco's line of brands that were from two countries of origin - New Zealand and the Ukraine. The Ukrainian-made Imperial Tobacco cigarettes were between $3 and $6 cheaper than the company's cigarettes made in New Zealand, depending on the brand and the location of the store. The brand at the centre of the change was the popular, premium brand, Peter Stuyvesant Blues. The Ukrainian version was called "Peter Stuyvesant Originals Blue", while the NZ version was dubbed "Peter Stuyvesant Classic Blue". A spokeswoman for Imperial Tobacco claimed the company had changed its country of import to provide cut-price cigarettes to the Australian market. "The Ukraine-manufactured product is a brand extension. Our Ukrainian facility has the machinery necessary to manufacture this particular product. The balance of that brand family is manufactured in NZ," she said.

Also in 2016, Imperial Tobacco Australia deployed a new trick to circumvent the plain packaging legislation, by inserting soft packs inside hard packs, effectively allowing people to take the cigarettes out with the soft pack and throw away the hard pack which featured the required graphic pictorial warnings. That ruse was mainly used for Peter Stuyvesant cigarette packs. A spokeswoman for Imperial Tobacco denied the company was breaking the law before adding: "we are providing a fresher, premium product to consumers".

It wasn't the first time Imperial Tobacco tried to circumvent these regulations. A report in 2011 by Quit Victoria mentioned the brand's previous behaviour, noting: "In February 2006, one month prior to the adoption of picture‐based warnings on tobacco packages, Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes were being sold in 'trendy retro‐style tins' which, unlike soft packets of cigarettes with on‐pack printed warnings, had health warning stickers that were easily peeled off. Retailers reported that the tins were very popular with younger smokers".[16]

In 2017, the Health Department conceded it would not be taking any action against Imperial Tobacco for breaching plain packaging legislation. Court action which could involve penalties of more than a million dollars imposed on the tobacco giant, but the Department chose to take what it called a "conciliatory" approach.[17]

Peter Stuyvesant is or was sold in the following countries: Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey, Senegal, Zambia, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.[18][19][20] Hungary

French pack of Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes

• Peter Stuyvesant Red: (tar: 10 mg; nicotine: 0.8 mg; carbon monoxide: 10 mg)
• Peter Stuyvesant Gold: (tar: 6 mg; nicotine: 0.5 mg; carbon monoxide: 6 mg)
• Peter Stuyvesant Gold 100s: (tar: 6 mg; nicotine: 0.5 mg; carbon monoxide: 6 mg)
• Peter Stuyvesant Blue: (tar: 4 mg; nicotine: 0.3 mg; carbon monoxide: 5 mg)
• Peter Stuyvesant Silver: (tar: 1 mg; nicotine: 0.1 mg; carbon monoxide: 2 mg)
• Peter Stuyvesant Blue (South Africa): (tar: 9 mg; nicotine: 0.8 mg; carbon monoxide: ? mg)

• Cigarette
• Tobacco smoking
• Peter Stuyvesant

• Media related to Peter Stuyvesant (cigarette) at Wikimedia Commons