Tobacco Brand Preferences
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Market Share Information
- According to 2017 sales data, Marlboro is the most popular cigarette brand in the United States, with sales greater than the next seven leading competitors combined.1
- The three most heavily advertised brands—Marlboro, Newport, and Camel—continue to be the preferred brands of cigarettes smoked by young people.2
| Brand | Market % |
|---|---|
|
NOTE: Market share—or market percentage—is defined as the percentage of total sales in the United States. |
|
| Marlboro | 40% |
| Newport | 14% |
| Camel (filter only) | 8% |
| Pall Mall Box | 7% |
| Maverick | 2% |
| Santa Fe | 2% |
| Winston | 2% |
| Kool | 2% |
Industry Marketing Practices
Tobacco industry marketing practices can influence the brands that certain groups prefer. For example:2
- The packaging and design of certain cigarette brands appeal to adolescents and young adults.
- Historically, menthol cigarettes have been targeted heavily toward certain racial/ethnic groups, especially African Americans.
- Among African American adult, adolescent, and young adult cigarette smokers, the most popular brands are all mentholated.
- Cigarettes with brand names containing words such as “thins” and “slims” have been manufactured to be longer and slimmer than traditional cigarettes to appeal directly to women—e.g., Virginia Slims and Capri brands.
Brand Characteristics
- Of all the cigarettes sold in the United States in 2018—3
- 99.7% were filtered
- 36.0% were mentholated brands
- Use of mentholated brands varies widely by race/ethnicity. The percentage of current smokers aged 12 years or older who reported using mentholated brands in 2012-2014 was:4
- 84.6% Non-Hispanic black
- 46.9% Hispanic
- 38.0% Non-Hispanic Asian
- 28.9% Non-Hispanic White
- Before 2010, manufacturers were allowed to label cigarettes as “light” or “ultra light” if they delivered less than 15 mg of tar when measured by an automated smoking machine.5
- Such labeling allowed tobacco companies to deliberately misrepresent “light” cigarettes as being less harmful and an acceptable alternative to quitting smoking.6
- The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, however, prohibits use of terms like “light,” “low,” and “mild” on tobacco product labels.7
Cigars
According to 2015 sales data, Swisher Little is the most popular brand of cigars in the United States, with sales substantially greater than any little cigar competitor and the leading large cigars and cigarillos competitors.8
| Brand | Category | Market % |
|---|---|---|
|
NOTE: Market share—or market percentage—is defined as the percentage of total sales in the United States. |
||
| Swisher Little | Little cigars | 60% |
| Swisher Sweets | Large cigars and cigarillos | 16% |
| Black & Mild | Large cigars and cigarillos | 11% |
| Garcia y Vega | Large cigars and cigarillos | 5% |
| White Owl | Large cigars and cigarillos | 5% |
Smokeless Tobacco
The five major U.S. smokeless tobacco companies experienced decreased sales from 2018 to 2019, from 128.4 million pounds to about 126 million pounds.9 Smokeless tobacco products include dry snuff, moist snuff, plug/twist, loose-leaf chewing tobacco, snus, and dissolvable products.
| Brand | Category | Market % |
|---|---|---|
|
NOTE: Market share—or market percentage—is defined as the percentage of total sales in the United States. |
||
| Levi Garrett Plug | Moist plug tobacco | 52% |
| Day’s Work | Plug tobacco | 45% |
| Red Man Plug | Moist plug tobacco | 36% |
| Grizzly | Moist snuff and fine cut tobacco | 26% |
| Copenhagen | Moist snuff and fine cut tobacco | 25% |
| Garrett | Dry snuff | 24% |
| Skoal | Moist snuff and fine cut tobacco | 24% |
| Red Man | Loose leaf tobacco | 18% |
- Maxwell JC. The Maxwell Report: Year End & Fourth Quarter 2017 Cigarette Industry. Richmond (VA): John C. Maxwell, Jr., 2018 [cited 2018 Jul 26].
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2012 [accessed 2017 Nov 3].
- U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Cigarette Report for 2018 [PDF – 281 KB]. Washington: Federal Trade Commission 2019 [accessed 2020 Apr 16].
- Villanti AC, Mowery PD, Delnevo CD, et al. Changes in the prevalence and correlates of menthol cigarette use in the USA, 2004–2014. Tobacco Control 2016;25:ii14-ii20 [accessed 2020 Apr 16].
- National Cancer Institute. Risks Associated with Smoking Cigarettes with Low Machine-Measured Yields of Tar and Nicotine. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 13. Bethesda (MD): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, 2001 [accessed 2017 Nov 3].
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014 [accessed 2017 Nov 3].
- Food and Drug Administration. Tobacco Control Act. Washington: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration 2015 [accessed 2017 Nov 3].
- Maxwell JC. The Maxwell Report: Cigar Industry in 2015. Richmond (VA): John C. Maxwell, Jr., 2016 [cited 2018 Jul 26].
- U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Federal Trade Smokeless Tobacco Report for 2019 [PDF – 1 MB]. Washington: Federal Trade Commission, 2021 [accessed 2021 Apr 27].