Roxy was a Dutch cigarette brand that was manufactured by Royal Theodorus Niemeyer in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, now owned by

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the larg ...

History

Roxy was created on 19 March 1951 by Theodorus Niemeijer. Their slogan was ''"'n Roxy?....ja graag!"'' (''"a Roxy?....yes please!"''). The brand was developed specifically as a cigarette which contained lower

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscosity, viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic matter, organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. ...

and nicotine. Although in the advertising for the cigarette references to health damage by smoking were avoided, scientific publications about the effects of smoking led to the creation of this cigarette. The consumer consciously wanted a safer smoke. In 1962 the Consumentenbond did a comparative study of the tar and nicotine content in various cigarettes, in which Roxy had the lowest levels of tar and nicotine. As a result, the market share of Roxy grew compared to the other cigarette brands. Dutch celebrities like John Kraaijkamp Sr. starred in various Star commercials during a time when tobacco advertising was still allowed. In 1978, the football player

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

starred in an advertising campaign called ''"Johan Cruyff: Rook verstandig"'', in which Cruyff promoted the Roxy Dual filter cigarette: ''"Maar ik vind: als je rookt, moet je wel verstandig roken"'' (''"But I find: if you smoke, you have to smoke consciously"''. After complaints from mainly Konsumenten Kontakt, the ad was promptly banned by the Reclame Code Commissie (''Advertising Code Committee''). The brand disappeared completely from the market in 2005, after a ban on cigarettes ads was put in place by the Dutch government in 2003.

Packaging

The first packs had a mix of blue and black, but later a lighter shade of blue was used instead. The first cigarettes were packed in packs of 20 pieces, a box of 50 pieces, a flat tin box of 50 pieces and a round tin box of 50 pieces. There was a sliding box of 5 pieces as well, but that one was not available for sale, and it's speculated it was used for advertisements only.

Markets

The brand was mainly sold in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was exported to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

References

{{British American Tobacco British American Tobacco brands

History

Packaging

Markets

See also

References