18 mai 2009
History Gitanes cigarette
The cigarette
Traditional Gauloises were short, wide, unfiltered and made with dark
tobaccos from Syria and Turkey which gave off a strong and distinctive
aroma. Some non-smokers likened this to burning tar or the smoke of
what King James I of England, in A Counterblast to Tobacco, called
"that pit which is bottomless".
Brand History
The brand name itself is interesting. In France, they say la langue
gauloise, mythologising the way in which the "Gauls" resisted Roman
hegemony — the more modern books and Paris theme park featuring
"Asterix the Gaul" continue the process. To name a brand as 'French' is
therefore to label it in a particularly iconic way, matching archetypes
of heroism and patriotism.
During its zenith between the World Wars,
the smoking of Gauloises in France was considered patriotic and an
affiliation with French "heartland" values. The brand was irrevocably
associated with the cigarette-smoking poilu (a slang term for the
French infantryman in the trenches) and the resistance fighters during
the Vichy occupation of France. During the wars, smoking was
characterised as "the soldier's breakfast" — a willingness to sacrifice
the ordinary comforts of daily life and to show solidarity with the
workers and soldiers in the war effort. The brand was also linked to
high-status and inspirational figure representing the worlds of art
(e.g. Pablo Picasso) and the intellectual elite (e.g. Jean Paul
Sartre). George Orwell also mentions that he smokes the brand in Down
and Out in Paris and London. This, together with the romantic
associations of France, makes Gauloises a popular brand among some
writers and artists.
The brand is also featured in the Roman Polanski
film The Tenant and the Robert De Niro and Jean Reno starrer Ronin,
where it is smoked by Jean Reno's character.Smoking Gauloises was also
promoted as a contribution to the national good: a proportion of the
profits from sale of Gauloises flowed to the Regie Francais Tabacs, a
semi-governmental corporation charged with both controlling the use of
tobacco, especially by minors, and directing its profits towards
socially beneficial causes. The designers of the traditional Gauloise
packet reinforced national identity by selecting a peculiarly French
shade of blue (like the blues used in the work of French artist Yves
Klein); this blue contains little compromise with other primary colors.
The legal environment
The cigarette was manufactured by Seita but 1999 proved to be a
landmark year. The legal difficulties crystalised when a French health
insurance fund filed a 51.33 million franc lawsuit against four
cigarette companies, including Seita, to cover the estimated and
continuing costs of treating the illnesses linked to cigarette smoking.
This was followed by an action filed by the family of a deceased heavy
smoker and the French state health insurer, Caisse Primaire d'Assurance
Maladie, claiming compensation for the cost of the deceased's medical
treatment and for producing a dangerous and addictive product.
Consequently, brand management was assigned to Altadis, with joint
French and Spanish ownership, and this company continues manufacture
and international distribution. This company is now facing legal action
in its own right.Following Ireland and New York State among others,
Spain has introduced a ban of smoking in nearly all public places,
which went into effect per January 1st, 2006. In Spain, smoking is
currently allowed only in special smoker's areas in bars. A similar
smoking ban in France, however, died in parliament in November 2005.