Reynolds, eager to increase the sales of its fast growing Camel brand among women, is introducing a variety aimed at female smokers. The new variation, Camel No. 9, has a name that evokes women s fragrances like Chanel No. 19, as well as a song about romance, Love Potion No. 9.

But don t look for a Jo Camel to join Old Joe the dromedary on Camel packages, displays or posters. Rather, Camel No. 9 signals its intended buyers with subtler cues like its colors, a hot pink fuchsia and a minty green teal its slogan, Light and luscious and the flowers that surround the packs in magazine ads.

For decades, Camel has been a male focused cigarette only about 30 percent of Camel buyers are female. By comparison, for competitive brands like Marlboro and Newport, women comprise 40 percent to 50 percent of customers. Almost half of adult smokers are women, so that limited Camel s potential.

Wall Street analysts praise the introduction of Camel No. 9, in regular and menthol flavors, as a further step by the R. J. Reynolds, a unit of Reynolds American, toward a new marketing strategy. The goal is to refocus on the biggest, most popular and most profitable brands, which include Kool as well as Camel.

But critics decry the new Camel as yet another effort to single out women for smoking pitches, a tactic they trace back to the 1920s when American Tobacco urged, Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet to promote Lucky Strike cigarettes.

The sad part is, this product is just more of the same, said Cheryl G. Healton, president and chief executive of the American Legacy Foundation in Washington. The foundation oversees the national antismoking Truth campaign aimed at youth that is financed by money from Reynolds American and the other major cigarette marketers.

More women die of lung cancer than breast cancer, by a wide margin, Ms. Healton said, yet the tobacco companies still want to increase their market share among women.

R. J. Reynolds sells two brands, Capri and Misty, aimed at women. A tiny competitor, the Vector Group, sells Eve, and the principal rival to Reynolds, the Altria Group, which owns Philip Morris, pioneered the category in 1968 with the Virginia Slims brand.

Virginia Slims, pitched for decades with a campaign that carried the theme You ve come a long way, baby, is the largest brand directed at women.

Research that began early last year found female adult smokers mostly weren t Camel smokers, said Cressida Lozano, vice president for marketing of the Camel brand at Reynolds American in Winston Salem, N.C., because, they said, they didn t feel Camel had a product for them.

What we re about is giving adult smokers a choice, Ms. Lozano said, with products we believe are more appealing than existing products. The introduction of Camel No. 9 is part of plans to focus on products that are wow, she added, that add fun and excitement to the category.

Bonnie Herzog, an analyst at Citigroup who follows the tobacco industry, described Reynolds American as very good at innovation bringing out variations of existing brands with new packages, flavors, styles and other twists on familiar offerings.

There is a risk of cannibalization, Ms. Herzog said, in that so called line extensions like Camel No. 9 could take shelf space and sales from the almost 30 other varieties of Camel.

But if you can steal from your competitor, a Virginia Slims, she added, a new variety would make sense and could be quite successful.

One reason for Reynolds American to introduce the new cigarette as part of the brand family of Camel, which dates to 1913, is that the many restrictions on marketing cigarettes make it more difficult for an all new brand name to break through. That is why Camel No. 9 is joining a Camel lineup that includes newcomers like Camel Wides, Camel Turkish Gold, Kamel Special Lights and Camel 99s.

We tested several different names among adult female smokers, said Brian Stebbins, senior marketing director at R. J. Reynolds, and Camel No. 9 had a lot of appeal for being premium and sophisticated.

The 9 is meant to suggest dressed to the nines, putting on your best, Mr. Stebbins said, rather than a perfume or a song.

R. J. Reynolds is working with two of its longtime agencies to introduce Camel No. 9, Agent 16 in New York and Gyro Worldwide in Philadelphia. The company will not disclose spending for the introduction, but estimates range from $25 million to $50 million.

Reynolds American will sponsor promotional events for the new Camel in large markets around the country and promote the brand in a variety of other ways, like giving away packs at nightclubs, distributing cents off coupons and running ads in magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Flaunt, Glamour, Vogue and W.

Ms. Healton at the antismoking foundation said she worried about ads in Cosmopolitan and Glamour because both have large numbers of young readers. That means R. J. Reynolds is looking for initiation, appealing to young girls to up their market share, she said, as well as hoping that older smokers will switch to Camel No. 9 from other brands.

Aiming tobacco ads at women is a longtime strategy. Documents from the files of the tobacco companies, released in 1998, indicated they had studied female smoking habits through research projects with names like Tomorrow s Female, Cosmo and Virile Female.

Decades ago, a sultry woman cooed, Blow some my way to a man smoking Chesterfield cigarettes in magazine ads from the old Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company. Ads for Chesterfield, Camel, Lucky Strike, Old Gold, Philip Morris and other mainstay brands featured female celebrities like Lucille Ball, Marlene Dietrich, Risл Stevens and Barbara Stanwyck.

Even Wilma Flintstone smoked, in animated commercials for Winston cigarettes that appeared during The Flintstones. The last cigarette commercial to be broadcast on American television, on Jan. 1, 1971, was for Virginia Slims.

One of the most famous moments in marketing took place in 1929, when Edward L. Bernays, widely considered the father of public relations, alerted newspapers that women would be smoking in public, during the Easter parade on Fifth Avenue, to promote equality of the sexes. He did not reveal he was paid for his torches of freedom effort by American Tobacco, the maker of Lucky Strike, which sought to encourage women to smoke.

American heritage(tm) brand of premium electronic cigarettes shipped
to twelve new distributors for retail placement in 400 convenience
stores in nine us states – marketwatch

LAS VEGAS, NV, Feb 05, 2014 (Marketwired via COMTEX) American Heritage International Inc. (“American Heritage”) (otcqb AHII), is today announcing that it has secured and sent product to twelve new distributors for retail placement in 400 convenience stores in the following US states California (100), Texas (100), Florida (50), New York (25), New Mexico (25), South Carolina (25), Arizona (25), Ohio (25), North Carolina (25).

Anthony Sarvucci, CEO of American Heritage, said, “Our retail distribution strategy is firing on all cylinders and these are important first steps towards American Heritage becoming a major player in the industry.

Moving forward, consumers will be able visit our website, enter their zip code and locate the closest store that carries our electronic cigarettes. We will update the public as soon as location website app is in place.”

About American Heritage International Inc.

American Heritage is a publicly traded company that manufactures, distributes and sells the American Heritage(TM) brand of disposable premium electronic cigarettes. American Heritage is currently in an advantageous position to become one of the leaders in the fast growing electronic cigarette industry.

American Heritage was formed with the goal of saving lives by producing the most realistic disposable electronic cigarette in the market today, providing traditional smokers with a healthier alternative.

American Heritage’s disposable premium electronic cigarettes have combined authentic true to life flavor with a soft filter which has pushed it to the forefront in terms of genuine look, feel and taste.

All of American Heritage’s ingredients are food grade quality and 100% produced in America for a safer and more enjoyable experience than the majority of its competitors can provide.

Follow American Heritage on Twitter at

Become an American Heritage Facebook Fan at

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains “forward looking statements” as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects and development stage companies. These forward looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the company assumes no obligation to update the forward looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward looking statements. Although management believes that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in the company’s annual report on Form 10 K for the most recent fiscal year, quarterly reports on Form 10 Q and other periodic reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 CONTACT American Heritage International Inc. Vincent Bonifatto (702) 726 6836 Email Contact Tivoli Village 410 South Rampart Suite 390 LAS VEGAS, NV 89145 USA 

SOURCE American Heritage International

(C) 2014 Marketwire L.P. All rights reserved.