{{Short description|American brand of cigarettes}} {{infobox brand | name= Kent | logo= Kent_cigarettes_2017_logo.jpg | image= | caption= | type= Cigarette | currentowner= British American Tobacco | producedby= British American Tobacco<br /> R.J. Reynolds | origin= United States | introduced= {{start date and age|1952}} | discontinued= | related= Barclay | markets= ''See Markets'' | previousowners= Lorillard | trademarkregistrations= | ambassadors= | tagline= | website= | footnotes = Carcinogenicity: IARC group 1 }} '''Kent''' is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in the United States and British American Tobacco elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bat.com/brands |title=British American Tobacco - Our brands |website=Bat.com |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-date=7 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107185930/https://www.bat.com/brands |url-status=live }}</ref> The brand is named after Herbert Kent, a former executive at Lorillard Tobacco Company.<ref name="cigsspot.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.cigsspot.com/2017/04/kent-cigarettes-history-reviews/ |title=Kent cigarettes. History and Reviews |website=Cigsspot.com |date=24 April 2017 |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328185901/https://www.cigsspot.com/2017/04/kent-cigarettes-history-reviews/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==History== [[File:Kentultra-1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|An old pack of Kent Ultras from South Africa]] Widely recognized by many as the first popular filtered cigarette, Kent was introduced by the Lorillard Tobacco Company in 1952<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://rjrt.com/transforming-tobacco/history/ |access-date=2022-03-24 |publisher=R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company |language=en |archive-date=2022-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027112424/https://rjrt.com/transforming-tobacco/history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> around the same time a series of articles entitled "cancer by the carton", published by ''Reader's Digest'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stobbe |first=Mike |title=Historic smoking report marks 50th anniversary |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/05/historic-smoking-report-marks-50th-anniversary/4318233/ |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US |archive-date=2017-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902094036/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/05/historic-smoking-report-marks-50th-anniversary/4318233/ |url-status=live }}</ref> scared American consumers into seeking out a filter brand at a time when most brands were filterless. (Viceroy cigarettes had been the first to introduce filters, in 1936.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cigarette Filters |url=https://tobaccotactics.org/wiki/cigarette-filters/ |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=TobaccoTactics |language=en}}</ref>)
Kent widely touted its "famous micronite filter" and promised consumers the "greatest health protection in history". Sales of Kent skyrocketed, and it has been estimated that in Kent's first four years on the market, Lorillard sold some 13 billion Kent cigarettes.
From March 1952 until at least May 1956, however, the "Micronite filter" in Kent cigarettes contained a mixture of crimped crêpe paper and compressed blue asbestos, the most carcinogenic type of asbestos.<ref name="pmid7757969">{{cite journal |vauthors=Longo WE, Rigler MW, Slade J |title=Crocidolite asbestos fibers in smoke from original Kent cigarettes |journal=Cancer Research |volume=55 |issue=11 |pages=2232–5 |year=1995 |pmid=7757969 |url=http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=7757969 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214141303/http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/55/11/2232.long |archive-date=14 Feb 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.asbestos.com/products/general/cigarette-filters.php |title=Asbestos Cigarette Filters - Toxic Usage, Lawsuits & Brands |website=Asbestos.com |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073727/https://www.asbestos.com/products/general/cigarette-filters.php |url-status=live }}</ref> It has been suspected that many cases of mesothelioma have been caused specifically by smoking the original Kent cigarettes, and various lawsuits followed over the years because of it.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/30/news/ex-kent-smoker-blames-filter-of-past-for-illness.html |first=David |last=Margolick |title=Ex-Kent Smoker Blames Filter of Past for Illness |date=30 August 1991 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-date=5 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105194027/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/30/news/ex-kent-smoker-blames-filter-of-past-for-illness.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greensboro.com/news/local_news/lawsuits-continue-over-asbestos-in-kent-cigarette-filters/article_845c79ce-e028-5a14-a521-5a5fc66e0e4a.html |title=Lawsuits continue over asbestos in Kent cigarette filters |author=Myron Levin |location=Greensboro, North Carolina |work=The News & Record |date=November 2013 |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-date=1 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201094448/https://greensboro.com/news/local_news/lawsuits-continue-over-asbestos-in-kent-cigarette-filters/article_845c79ce-e028-5a14-a521-5a5fc66e0e4a.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Myron |last=Levin |url=https://www.fairwarning.org/2013/10/legal-battles-smolder-six-decades-after-the-greatest-health-protection-in-cigarette-history/ |title=Legal Battles Smolder Six Decades After 'the Greatest Health Protection in Cigarette History' |website=FairWarning |date=22 October 2013 |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073525/https://www.fairwarning.org/2013/10/legal-battles-smolder-six-decades-after-the-greatest-health-protection-in-cigarette-history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Lorillard quietly changed the filter material from asbestos to the more common cellulose acetate in mid-1956.<ref name="pmid7757969" /> Kent continued to grow until the late 1960s, then began a long, steady decline as more filtered cigarette brands promising even lower tar (and appealing to smokers' desires for a "safer" smoke) were introduced.
Kent Cigarettes sponsored ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' during its second season, and actor Dick Van Dyke filmed many spots smoking them, along with Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam. The cigarettes were touted as being packaged in a "crush proof box".<ref>{{Cite web |first=Eddie |last=Deezen |title=13 Things You Didn't Know About The Dick Van Dyke Show |url=https://www.neatorama.com/2017/01/26/13-Things-You-Didnt-know-about-The-Dick-Van-Dyke-Show/ |access-date=2022-10-30 |website=Neatorama |date=26 January 2017 |language=en |archive-date=2022-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007215953/https://www.neatorama.com/2017/01/26/13-Things-You-Didnt-know-about-The-Dick-Van-Dyke-Show/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Kent experienced moderate success among major cigarette brands, placing within the top ten in 1970, but its market position declined significantly over the next decade, and it was no longer among the leading brands by 1979.<ref name="Cigarette brands from the 1970s - USA">{{cite web |last=Braggs |first=Steven |title=Cigarette brands from the 1970s - USA |url=https://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_collectibles/smoking/cigarette_brands_70s_usa.php |website=RetroWow |publisher=retrowow.co.uk |access-date=6 April 2026}}</ref>
While continuing domestic sale and production, Lorillard sold the overseas rights of Kent and all of its other brands in 1977,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lorillard.com/aboutus |title=Reynolds American Incorporated – Home |publisher=Lorillard |access-date=2015-10-31}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=February 2024}} and today Kents manufactured outside the U.S. are property of British American Tobacco. It eventually became one of their most popular brands, along with Dunhill, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, and Rothmans.<ref name="cigsspot.com" />
On June 15, 2014, Reynolds American offered to buy the Lorillard tobacco company for $27.4 billion and effective June 12, 2015, the Kent brand became the property of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.<ref>{{Cite press release |author1=Reynolds American |author2=Lorillard |title=Reynolds American To Acquire Lorillard in Transaction Valued At $27.4 Billion |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reynolds-american-to-acquire-lorillard-in-transaction-valued-at-274-billion-267143881.html |access-date=2020-06-11 |website=PR Newswire |language=en |archive-date=2022-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027112255/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reynolds-american-to-acquire-lorillard-in-transaction-valued-at-274-billion-267143881.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Various advertising posters were made for Kent cigarettes, ranging from 1955 until 1986.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vintageadsandstuff.com/adstobaccokent.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060324203509/http://www.vintageadsandstuff.com/adstobaccokent.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 24, 2006 |title=Kent cigarette ads |website=Vintage Ads and Stuff |access-date=3 January 2018}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2024}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.magazine-advertisements.com/kent-cigarettes.html |title=Kent Cigarettes |website=Advertisement Gallery |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104132410/http://www.magazine-advertisements.com/kent-cigarettes.html |url-status=live }}</ref> One particular series of ads implied that smoking and eating were synonymous—in both pleasure and necessity.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Caldwell |first1=Gail |title=A Matter of Taste |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1982-04-20_11_16/page/n30/mode/1up |access-date=19 August 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=20 April 1982}}</ref>
==Kent in Romania== Between 1970 and 1990 Kent was the most sought after cigarette in Romania and in some parts of the domestic market used as payment or bribe.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/08/29/in-romania-kents-as-currency/af55be66-f57c-4aeb-9d13-22bdbaa75947/ |title=In Romania, Kents as Currency |first=Gary |last=Lee |date=29 August 1987 |access-date=3 January 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104074810/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/08/29/in-romania-kents-as-currency/af55be66-f57c-4aeb-9d13-22bdbaa75947/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In the latter part of this era, Kent was no longer available in regular retail, being sold officially only in hard currency shops. Obviously, the black market was thriving at the time, as most Kents were being smuggled in by those relatively few Romanians who were allowed to travel abroad (sea and air crew, diplomatic staff, etc.)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19841201&id=G6IkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sqUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1023%2C502429 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411012954/http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19841201&id=G6IkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sqUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1023%2C502429 |first=Jonathan |last=Lynn |agency=Reuters |title=Cigarettes good as gold in Romania |newspaper=The Montreal Gazette |page=H-7 |via=Google News Archive Search |date=1 December 1984 |archive-date=11 April 2013 |access-date=9 February 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Thurow |first=Roger |url=http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/myz20f00/pdf;jsessionid=CB4307DB173D9DDA3262BCF498B359FC.tobacco03 |title=In Romania, Smoking A Kent Cigarette Is Like Burning Money<!--Omit second "continued from first page" headline--> |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=March 1, 1986 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226063029/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/myz20f00/pdf%3Bjsessionid%3DCB4307DB173D9DDA3262BCF498B359FC.tobacco03 |archive-date=2013-12-26 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The 2004 debut short film {{lang|ro|Un cartuș de Kent și un pachet de cafea}} ({{Literal translation|'A carton of Kent and a packet of coffee'}}) by Cristi Puiu is titled after the bribes discussed in the film.
==Markets== Kent is or was sold in the following countries: Jordan, Belgium, Brazil, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, Norway, Cyprus, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Greece, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Poland, Romania, Israel, Moldova, Czech Republic, Croatia, Iraq, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, South Africa, Syria, Iran, United States, Kosovo, Mexico, El Salvador, Chile, Turkey, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Vietnam, Australia, Singapore, Mongolia, China, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Japan, Puerto Rico and South Korea.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cigarettespedia.com/index.php/BrandKent |title=BrandKent - Cigarettes Pedia |website=Cigarettespedia.com |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-date=5 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105181214/http://www.cigarettespedia.com/index.php/BrandKent |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zigsam.at/B_Kent.htm |title=Kent |website=Zigsam.at |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073249/http://www.zigsam.at/B_Kent.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
==See also== * Tobacco smoking * Mesothelioma
==References== {{Commons category}} {{Reflist}}
{{Reynolds American}} {{British American Tobacco}} {{Lorillard}}
Category:1952 establishments in the United States Category:Asbestos disasters Category:Asbestos Category:British American Tobacco brands Category:Cigarette brands Category:Products introduced in 1952 Category:R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company brands Category:Socialist Republic of Romania