The Kent cigarettes brand was put into production in March 1952 by the American company Lorillard. These were long (70 mm) and expensive cigarettes in a soft pack traditional for America in the 1950s. The Kent cigarettes brand was named after the then head of the company – Herbert Kent.
The classic tobacco blend “American Blend” was chosen as a filler. Long, 7 cm machine-rolled cigarettes are packaged in a beautiful soft pack. However, the popularity of the brand was brought not by advertising and competent positioning, but by innovations in the field of smoking. It was in Kent cigarettes that full-fledged asbestos filters first appeared. Smokers quickly appreciated the lightness that classic heavy American cigarettes gave when smoking, thanks to which the manufacturer’s sales skyrocketed!
The company did not stop there and set a goal to regularly surprise its customers with new products and the highest achievements in the field of cigarette manufacturing. Already in 1956, the asbestos filter replaced the safer, more reliable and efficient carbon filter. The rest of the manufacturers could only look up to the progressive Americans. The sales of Kent cigarettes were initially carried out mainly in the United States. In some countries, they were used as a currency – for packs of cigarettes, you could buy certain goods and even services. The Kent cigarettes were then quite expensive and were affordable only for people with a good income.
It was Kent cigarettes that were the first to have a filter. In the 1970s of the 20th century, the Kent cigarettes brand was acquired by British American Tobacco, which allowed KENT to enter the world markets. Between March 1952 and May 1956, the filters of Kent cigarettes consisted of a form of asbestos, now carbon filters are used with or without a menthol capsule.
However, the Kent cigarettes continued to be in the list of top ten cigarette brands until 1979. Continuing to sell and manufacture domestically, Lorillard sold the rights on Kent cigarettes and all of its other brands overseas in 1977, and today the Kent cigarettes produced outside the US are owned by British American Tobacco. It eventually became one of the company’s most popular brands, along with Dunhill, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and Rothmans.