Lucky Strike is a brand of cigarettes. The brand was first introduced in 1871 as a smoking mixture by R.A. Patterson in Richmond, Virginia. In 1916 it was introduced as a finished cigarette in a dark green pack by the American Tobacco Company.
The pack was changed from green to white in 1942. In a famous advertising campaign that used the slogan "Lucky Strike Green has gone to war," the company claimed the change was made because the copper used in the green colour was needed for World War II. This claim, however, has been debunked: The change was made to attract female smokers.
In 1917 the slogan "It's Toasted" was used. The slogan simply described the manufacturing process in which the tobacco is toasted rather than sun dried; this does substantially affect the flavor. Also the message "L.S./M.F.T." (Lucky Strike means fine tobacco) was introduced on the package. In 1978 and 1994, export rights and US rights were purchased by Brown & Williamson. In 1996, filtered styles were launched in San Francisco, but it was not until 1999 that they were available all over the United States.
The Lucky Strike Logo was created by famous industrial designer Raymond Loewy, who also created the Coca-Cola logo. The logo later became a prominent fixture in Pop-era artist Ray Johnson's collages.
Lucky Strike was the sponsor of Jack Benny's television program in the 1950s on CBS. Lucky Strike is a current major sponser of BAR Honda in Formula One racing.
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