View source for Pall Mall (cigarette)

{{Short description|British brand of cigarettes}}
{{About|the cigarette company and their product|other uses of the term|Pall mall (disambiguation){{!}}Pall mall}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Promotional|date=April 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2024}}
{{Lead too short|date=September 2025}}
}}
{{infobox brand
| name           = Pall Mall
| logo           = Pallmall cigarettes logo.png
| image          =
| caption        = An American pack of Pall Mall Red cigarettes
| type           = [[Cigarette]]
| currentowner  = [[British American Tobacco]]
| producedby  = British American Tobacco
| origin         = [[United Kingdom]]
| introduced     = {{start date and age|1899}}
| discontinued   =
| related        =
| markets        =
| previousowners = Black Butler Company
| trademarkregistrations =
| ambassadors    =
| tagline        =
| website        = {{URL|https://www.pallmallusa.com/|pallmallusa.com}}
| footnotes      = Carcinogenicity: [[IARC group 1]]
}}

'''Pall Mall''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|ɛ|l|ˈ|m|ɛ|l}}, {{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|æ|l|ˈ|m|æ|l|}} or adopted{{clarify|reason=What does 'adopted' mean here?|date=May 2024}}{{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|ɔː|l|ˈ|m|ɔː|l|}}) is a British [[brand]] of [[cigarette]]s produced by [[British American Tobacco]].

== History ==
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2025}}
[[File:Pall Mall ad 1925-10.png|thumb|250px|Pall Mall ad from ''[[Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks|The Elks Magazine]]'', 1925]]
The Pall Mall brand was introduced in 1899<ref>{{Cite web |title=PALL MALL EST 1899 Trademark of REYNOLDS BRANDS INC. - Registration Number 4972070 - Serial Number 86659860 :: Justia Trademarks |url=http://trademarks.justia.com/866/59/pall-mall-est-86659860.html |access-date=2025-11-05 |website=trademarks.justia.com |language=en}}</ref> by the Black Butler Company (UK) in an attempt to cater to the upper class with the first "premium" cigarette. It is named after [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]], a well-known street in the [[St James's]] area of [[London]], containing several of the private clubs which such people patronized.

In 1907, Pall Mall was acquired by the [[American Tobacco Company]] with the sale of Butler & Butler. The new owners used the premium brand to test innovations in cigarette design, such as, in 1939, the "king-size" (now the standard size for cigarettes at 85&nbsp;mm, although today that includes the filter length),<ref>{{Cite web |title=King size |url=https://time.com/archive/6764677/king-size/ |access-date=2025-11-04 |website=time.com}}</ref> and a new way of stuffing tobacco that supposedly made cigarettes easier on the throat.

Pall Mall reached the height of its popularity in 1960 when it was the number one brand of cigarette in [[United States|America]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Wootten, Harry M.|title=Cigarettes up 4.8% in 1960 – Pall Mall No. 1 for first time|work=[[Printers' Ink]]|date=23 December 1960|url=https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/#id=ffcc0137|access-date=5 December 2016|archive-date=28 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028200232/https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/#id=ffcc0137|url-status=dead}}</ref> Capitalising on their popularity, the company introduced "longs", 100&nbsp;mm long cigarettes in 1966.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rjrt.com/transforming-tobacco/what-we-make/|title=What We Make - R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company|website=Rjrt.com|access-date=23 October 2016|archive-date=4 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304204507/https://rjrt.com/transforming-tobacco/what-we-make/|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was edged out in 1966 by [[Winston (cigarette)|Winston cigarettes]], when Pall Mall found that it could no longer compete with the advertising campaign "[[Winston tastes good like a cigarette should]]." In the 1940s, Pall Mall had its own grammatically incorrect slogan which touted it as the cigarette which "travels the smoke further", referencing the longer 85&nbsp;mm length. Their slogan during the '50s and early '60s was "OUTSTANDING...''and'' they are MILD!"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Outstanding - And they are mild · Yale University Library Online Exhibitions |url=https://onlineexhibits.library.yale.edu/s/sellingsmoke/item/1120 |access-date=2025-11-05 |website=onlineexhibits.library.yale.edu}}</ref>

In 1994, Pall Mall and [[Lucky Strike]] were purchased by [[Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation]] as the former American Tobacco company shed its tobacco brands.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E5DE143EF93AA35753C1A960958260 | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | title=American Brands Ends Tobacco Role | first=Kenneth N. | last=Gilpin | date=October 9, 1996 | access-date=May 21, 2010}}</ref> In 2001 Pall Mall was re-branded as a savings brand, and introduced several varieties of filtered cigarettes. [[Brown & Williamson]] merged with [[R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company]] on July 30, 2004, with the surviving company taking the name of the latter. Reynolds continues to make unfiltered and filtered styles of Pall Mall for the U.S. market, emphasizing the latter. [[British American Tobacco]] makes and sells Pall Mall outside the U.S.

Pall Mall currently is in the "Growth Brand" segment of the R. J. Reynolds brand portfolio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rjrt.com/company/brandsPortfolio.asp|title=R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company – Company – Brands – Brand Portfolio|date=9 November 2006|access-date=5 January 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109051411/http://www.rjrt.com/company/brandsPortfolio.asp|archive-date=9 November 2006}}</ref> Within British American Tobacco, Pall Mall is one of their four drive brands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bat.com/OneWeb/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/AC182AE7022BAAD380256BF400033185?opendocument&SID=&DTC=|title=British American Tobacco - British American Tobacco|website=Bat.com|access-date=23 October 2016}}</ref> During the [[Great Recession]], Pall Mall was marketed as a "premium product at a sub-premium price", which pushed the product from a 1.95 percent market share with a 1.6 billion quarterly volume in 2006 to 7.95 percent and 5.5 billion in third quarter 2010.

[[File:Pall Mall Blue.JPG|thumb|right|250px|German or Austrian Pall Mall packet with [[Tobacco packaging warning messages|warning message]]: "Smoking severely harms you and the people around you", 2013]]
Pall Mall is now{{when|date=October 2021}} Reynolds' most popular cigarette, along with [[Newport (cigarette)|Newport]] and [[Camel (cigarette)|Camel]]. In October 2012, Reynolds debuted two new versions of its [[menthol cigarette]], Pall Mall Black, described as "full flavor", and Pall Mall White, called "smoother". The traditional menthol style is called Pall Mall Green.<ref name="menthol">{{cite news |last=Craver |first=Richard |date=2012-09-25 |title=Reynolds to offer more menthol versions of Pall Mall cigarettes |work=[[Winston-Salem Journal]] |url=http://www.journalnow.com/business/reynolds-to-offer-more-menthol-versions-of-pall-mall-cigarettes/article_ad29b2bc-ff1b-5dff-a82e-be1150763e12.html |access-date=5 December 2016}}</ref>

==Logo==
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2025}}
[[File:PALL MALL logo and ad 1922.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Pall Mall logo on a Metropolitan Opera House program, 1922]]
The Pall Mall [[logo]] has large [[Art Nouveau]] lettering spelling out "Pall Mall" on the top front of the red pack. On the face is a white [[coat of arms]] on the front and back of the package. Showing two regal [[lion]]s pawing the sides and a [[knight]]'s helmet on top. There is a banner underneath the shield that holds another Latin phrase, "''[[In hoc signo vinces]]''" or "By this sign shall you conquer". The Pall Mall slogan, "Wherever Particular People Congregate", appears beneath the coat of arms.

In 2007, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company changed the packaging color of Pall Mall Ultra Lights from light blue to orange to stop confusion between the Ultra Lights and the Lights. Both had been in blue colored packaging.

In 2009, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company changed the flavor descriptors of all the Pall Mall brand hard packs to color designations. The descriptor change occurred because the [[Food and Drug Administration|FDA]] banned product descriptors such as "Light," "Ultra Light" and "Mild" in 2010. Along with the change in descriptors, the rings and branding on the cigarettes have changed to match both the color of the box and the Pall Mall lettering on the filter for that particular descriptor. The soft packs are still sold with the traditional style packaging and design.

In 2015, the FDA required that two varieties of Pall Mall be removed from stores, Deep Set Recessed Filter (blue) and Deep Set Recessed Filter Menthol, as well as Camel Crush Bold and [[Vantage (cigarette)|Vantage]] Tech 13.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm462407.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915221301/http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm462407.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 15, 2015|title=Press Announcements - FDA issues orders that will stop further U.S. sale and distribution of four R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company cigarette products|website=Fda.gov|access-date=23 October 2016}}</ref>

== Pronunciation ==
{{more citations needed section|date=September 2024}}
During the era of cigarette advertising on television and radio, the American pronunciation of the brand was {{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|ɛ|l|ˈ|m|ɛ|l}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B3g80Q03t8|title=Pall Mall Cigarette Ad 1967|date=26 November 2007|access-date=23 October 2016|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>  However, after the [[Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act]] banned cigarette advertising, the American pronunciation shifted to {{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|æ|l|ˈ|m|æ|l|}},{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} which is the pronunciation of the street in London of that name and has always also been used for the cigarettes by smokers from the United Kingdom. Older smokers in the U.S. who heard the commercials often still use the older pronunciation.

==Sponsorships==
Pall Mall sponsored the radio shows ''[[Ripley's Believe It or Not#Radio|Ripley's Believe It or Not]]'' in the 1940s and ''[[The Big Story (radio and TV series)|The Big Story]]'' in the 1940s and 1950s.

The brand was the [[Sponsor (commercial)|sponsor]] of ''[[M Squad]]'', a [[television program]] which ran on [[NBC]] during the late 1950s. [[Lee Marvin]], the show's star, appeared on its [[television advertisement|commercials]] during the episodes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tobaccovideos.com/commercials/002pallmall.html |title=Pall Mall Presents M Squad |access-date=2010-06-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626013742/http://www.tobaccovideos.com/commercials/002pallmall.html |archive-date=2010-06-26 }}</ref> It was an alternating sponsor of ''[[MGM Parade]]'' in the 1955–56 season. Despite the ban on cigarette ads on TV that went into effect on January 2, 1971, Pall Mall ads from the show are seen on [[Turner Classic Movies]] intact.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

== Cultural references ==
* [[Kurt Vonnegut]], who was a Pall Mall smoker, mentioned the brand in several of his novels. Kurt Vonnegut once said that smoking was "a classy way to commit [[suicide]]".<ref>{{cite news | title = I smoke, therefore I am | date = February 5, 2006 |publisher = The Guardian Observer | url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/feb/05/features.review2 | access-date = November 1, 2021 | location=London | first=Lynn | last=Barber}}</ref> In the introduction to his book ''[[Welcome to the Monkey House]]: The Special Edition'', Vonnegut said "My brand is Pall Mall. The authentic suicides ask for Pall Malls. The dilettantes ask for Pell Mells."
* In 1973’s [[Badlands (film)]], Kit ([[Martin Sheen]]) is surprised to realize that Holly ([[Sissy Spacek]]) smokes Pall Malls. Pronouncing it “Pell Mells”

== See also ==
* [[Tobacco smoking]]
* [[Lung cancer]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website}}

{{Reynolds American}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pall Mall (Cigarette)}}
[[Category:R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company brands]]
[[Category:Cigarette brands]]
[[Category:British brands]]
[[Category:Products introduced in 1899]]
[[Category:British American Tobacco brands]]