Gauloises

Gauloises is a brand of cigarette of French manufacture. It is produced by the company Altadis.

Cigarette

Traditional Gauloises were originally short, wide, unfiltered and made with dark tobaccos from Syria and Turkey which gave off a strong and distinctive smell. Some non-smokers compared this to burning tar or the smoke of what King James VI of Scotland (and I of England), in "A Counterblast to Tobacco", called "that pit which is bottomless".

Brand history

In France, they say "la langue gauloise"Fact|date=February 2007, mythologising the way in which the "Gauls" resisted Roman hegemony. Between the World Wars the smoking of Gauloises in France was considered patriotic and an affiliation with French "heartland" valuesFact|date=February 2007. The brand was associated with the cigarette-smoking "poilu" (a slang term for the French infantryman in the trenches) and the resistance fighters during the Vichy Regime. The brand was also linked to high-status and inspirational figures representing the worlds of art (e.g. Pablo Picasso) and the intellectual elite (e.g. Jean Paul Sartre [http://www.cnn.com/2005/BUSINESS/09/01/france.gauloises/] [http://www.discount-euro-cigarettes.com/Cigarettes-for-Europe/Gauloises/4358.aspx] , Albert Camus and Jean Baudrillard [Horrocks, Chris. Introducing Baudrillard: Icon Books, 1996. ] . 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, made Gauloises a popular brand among some writers and artists: Ian Fleming's hero, James Bond, smoked Gauloises; in practically every story and novel written by Julio Cortázar set in Paris, the protagonists smoke Gauloises; they also appear in the Roman Polanski film "The Tenant" and the Robert De Niro and Jean Reno film "Ronin", where it is smoked by Jean Reno's character; in John le Carre's book "Smiley's People", Gauloises are the brand of choice of Estonian dissident Vladimir. John Lennon was a noted smoker of Gauloises Bleues. Smoking Gauloises is also mentioned in the teen series 'Gossip Girl.' The helmet of French comic strip character Asterix was based on the cigarette logo. Fact|date=August 2008.

Smoking Gauloises was also promoted as a contribution to the national good: a proportion of the profits from their sale was paid to the Regie Française des Tabacs, a semi-governmental corporation charged with 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). Vercingetorix appears in silhouette on the cover Fact|date=February 2007.

Legal issues

The cigarette was manufactured by Seita but 1999 proved to be a landmark year. The legal difficulties crystallised 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 on smoking in nearly all public places, which went into effect per January 1, 2006. In Spain, smoking is currently allowed only in special smokers' areas in bars.

In October 2006, the Prime Minister of France announced a similar public smoking ban to take effect in February, 2007; bars, cafés, and restaurants will have until January, 2008 to adapt to the ban. [cite news
title = France to ban smoking in public
publisher = BBC News
date = 8 October 2006
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6032125.stm
accessdate = 2007-01-17 ]

Recent developments

In mid-2003, the Gauloises brand was discontinued entirely in the USA. Remaining inventory carried through into early 2004. Company officials are on record as saying they have no plans to ever sell Gauloises in the USA again. However, Gauloises remain widely available in Canada.

The nationwide smoking ban in France in 2007 makes the brand's slogan on the side of the packet "Liberté Toujours" (Freedom Always) slightly ironic, as prohibiting smoking is arguably a direct move against such a philosophy.

Trivia

*Golliwog was a World War II British naval slang for a Gauloise cigarette, because the tobacco was nearly black in colour. [Furst, Alan (2004) "Dark Voyage," Random House, Random House, ISBN 1-4000-6018-4: "It was a Gauloise — what British seamen called a "golliwog"...".]
*Gauloises was the main sponsor of the Prost Formula One team in the years 1996–2000.
*In Julio Cortázar's famous novel, "Hopscotch", main character Horacio Oliveira constantly smokes Gauloises.
*English actor Sean Bean smokes Gauloises cigarettes.
*In "Modesty Blaise", both the heroine and her faithful side-kick smoke Gauloises.

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4204206.stm Gauloises and Gitanes exit France]
* [http://rollingpapers.net/gauloises/gauloises.htm Gauloises rolling papers on Rollingpapers.net collectors site]