Gunston is a South African brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the South African subsidiary of conglomerate

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

History

Gunston was established in the 1950s by the Winston Tobacco Company in South Africa. It enjoyed significant popularity in the South African market until its sales began to decrease, with consumers increasingly favoring other brands like

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...

and

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (PMI, now separate from Altria) in most global territories outside the ...

. On April 28, 1972, a trademark request for the phrase "Gunston cigarettes" was submitted and subsequently approved on June 19, 1973. This trademark remained valid until June 19, 2004. In December 1999, the

Independent Online ''Independent Online'', popularly known as ''IOL'', is a news website based in South Africa that serves the online versions of a number of South African newspapers, including '' The Star'', '' Cape Times'', '' Cape Argus'', ''Weekend Argus'', '' ...

reported that Gunston, along with brands like John Player International, Camel Plain, and

Gitanes Gitanes (, " Gypsy women") is a French brand of cigarettes, owned and manufactured by Imperial Tobacco following their acquisition of Altadis in January 2008, having been owned by SEITA before that. History Gitanes was launched in 1910 in f ...

, faced the possibility of being banned if the manufacturers did not reduce the tar content in these brands. Manufacturers were given a three-month window to comply with the new regulations, and they did so. These regulations were aligned with the 1999 recommendations from the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

, which set a maximum limit of 15 mg of tar and 1.5 mg of nicotine in cigarettes. It was also planned to further reduce these limits to 12 mg of tar and 1.2 mg of nicotine after two or three years.

Advertising

Various magazine and poster advertisements were made to advertise the brand. Some ads also included Team Gunston (a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

team owned by the

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

n racing driver John Love) and the ''"Gunston 500"'', a South African surf competition. The slogan that was frequently used was ''"Men Rate Gunston Great"''. Some radio advertisements for

Springbok Radio Springbok Radio (spelled ''Springbokradio'' in Afrikaans, ) was a South African nationwide radio station that operated from 1950 to 1985. History SABC's decision in December 1945 to develop a commercial service was constrained by post-war financia ...

were also made.

Sponsorships

Formula 1

Gunston provided sponsorship to Team Gunston from 1968 to 1975. This sponsorship marked an early instance of tobacco sponsorship in motor racing. They supported Rhodesian drivers John Love and

Sam Tingle Sam Ashworth Tingle (24 August 1921 – 19 December 2008) was an English-born racing driver from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Tingle was born in Manchester, United Kingdom, and made his Formula One debut on 28 December 1963. He was one of only two ...

during the 1968 South African Championship for Formula 1 and

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an Open-wheel car, open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel ...

vehicles. Before their involvement in Formula 1 sponsorship, the team also participated in the non-championship event, the Rhodesian Grand Prix, which took place at the James McNeillie Circuit in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

South African F2

Gunston sponsored Team Gunston in the South African F2.

Kyalami 9 Hours

Gunston sponsored Team Gunston in the

Kyalami 9 Hours The Nine Hours of Kyalami is an endurance sports car race contested at Kyalami, Midrand, South Africa. The first races were held from 1958 to 1960 at a circuit at the Grand Central Airport near Midrand before moving to Kyalami in 1961. The eve ...

(also known as the 1000 km of Kyalami).

Surfing

Gunston served as the primary sponsor for the surfing championship previously known as the "Durban 500." However, once Gunston took on this sponsorship, the event's name was changed to the "Gunston 500" surfing championship. This sponsorship came to an end when tobacco sponsorships were prohibited in South Africa in 1999.

References

{{British American Tobacco 1950s establishments in South Africa British American Tobacco brands