Strand (cigarette)

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title: "Strand (cigarette)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["imperial-brands-brands", "defunct-brands"] description: "Former British cigarette brand" topic_path: "general/imperial-brands-brands" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strand_(cigarette)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Former British cigarette brand ::

::data[format=table title="infobox brand"]

Field	Value
name	Strand
logo	Strand cigarettes logo.png
type	Cigarette
currentowner	Imperial Brands
producedby	W.D. & H.O. Wills
origin	United Kingdom
introduced	1959
discontinued	Early 1960s
related	Embassy
markets	United Kingdom
tagline	"You're never alone with a Strand. The cigarette of the moment."
footnotes	Carcinogenicity: IARC group 1
::

| name = Strand | logo = Strand cigarettes logo.png | image = | caption = | type = Cigarette | currentowner = Imperial Brands | producedby = W.D. & H.O. Wills | origin = United Kingdom | introduced = 1959 | discontinued = Early 1960s | related = Embassy | markets = United Kingdom | previousowners = | trademarkregistrations = | ambassadors = | tagline = "You're never alone with a Strand. The cigarette of the moment." | website = | footnotes = Carcinogenicity: IARC group 1 Strand was a British brand of cigarettes which was owned and manufactured by W.D. & H.O. Wills (a now defunct subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco).

History

Strand was launched in 1959 but withdrawn in the early 1960s. The launch was accompanied by a huge television advertising campaign with the slogan "You're never alone with a Strand". They also ran advertisements in newspapers offering a free pack of Strand cigarettes to readers who filled in a coupon and sent it in.

Marketing

You're never alone with a Strand

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Strand_Tipped_Cigarettes_(Full_Flavour).jpg" caption="A Strand pack"] ::

This television advertisement depicted a dark, wet, deserted London street scene in which a raincoated character, played by Terence Brook, looking similar to Frank Sinatra, lit a cigarette and puffed reflectively. This was accompanied by an instrumental, "The Lonely Man Theme" by Cliff Adams, playing in the background and a voice-over declared "You're never alone with a Strand. The cigarette of the moment".

The commercial, written by John May, was popular with the public, with Brook becoming a star, and the music reaching Number 39 in the UK Singles Chart.

However, sales of the brand were poor and it was soon taken off the market. The public associated smoking Strand cigarettes with being lonely and were put off from buying them. It is regarded as one of the most disastrous tobacco advertising campaigns of all time with only 0.3% of male smokers and 0.7% of female smokers ever buying a pack of Strand cigarettes.

The company rebranded Strand as Embassy. The new TV adverts showed a man at a party, ignored by everyone. He produces a pack of Embassy, starts offering them around and is suddenly the life and soul of the party. The advertising campaign's success can be judged by Embassy becoming the biggest selling cigarette of the 1960s.

References

References

1. "BrandStrand - Cigarettes Pedia".
2. "Strand".
3. "Brands".
4. [http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/tv/adverts/commercials.htm The Commercials] at WhirligigTV.co.uk. (includes footage of the commercial)
5. [http://www.headington.org.uk/adverts/cigars_cigarettes_tobacco.htm UK Television Adverts, 1955-1985: Cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco] at Headington.org. Accessed 10 September 2014
6. (21 March 2002). "John May". [[Daily Telegraph]].
7. [http://nostalgiacentral.com/television/television-by-decade/1950s-television/advertisements Advertisements" ] at NostalgiaCentral.com. Accessed 10 September 2014.
8. "The Lonely Man Theme".
9. "[http://tv.cream.org/extras/tobacco/index.htm Off the back of a fag packet]" at TVCream.org. Accessed 10 September 2014.
10. "The history of advertising 18 - Strand cigarettes".
11. Murray, Scott. (29 May 2009). "Joy of six: Things that you no longer see in TV adverts". [[The Guardian]].
12. "Strand Cigarettes - 1959 | Devastating Disasters".
13. (19 March 2014). "What makes a bad advert?".

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