Fortuna (cigarette)

Fortuna

Product type	Cigarette
Owner	Altadis, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco
Country	Francoist Spain
Introduced	1974; 47 years ago (1974)
Markets	See Markets
Previous owners	Tabacalera

Fortuna is a Spanish brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the Franco-Spanish company Altadis, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco. Fortuna is Spanish for fortune or luck.

History[]

An old Spanish pack of Fortuna cigarettes, with a Spanish text warning at the bottom of the pack

Fortuna was first introduced in 1974 in Francoist Spain by Tabacalera, a Spanish tobacco conglomerate which is now half of the Altadis corporation. When Fortuna was launched in 1974, the market was dominated by black tobacco and the few international brands of blonde (light) cigarettes that were very expensive for the Spanish smoker. As a response to this, Tabacalera launched Fortuna cigarettes which were a type of blonde tobacco with a filter. With Fortuna came the first American blonde flavoured cigarette and in its first six months almost 700 million cigarettes were sold. From that moment, the brand did not stop growing and only ten years later, it began its adventure at an international level; first in France, and then in countries like Italy, Morocco and the United States, where the cigarettes are known for their "Spanish character". For more than thirty years, Fortuna has been the best-selling brand in the blonde cigarette market, surpassing even the arrival of international brands in Spain.^[1] The tobacco mixture used in Fortuna cigarettes is of a Virginia type.

As of 2006 the brand remains the market leader in Spain.^{[citation needed]} In April 2008, Altadis changed the pack design to a "new and modernised look" and reduced the amount of its big pack cigarettes from 25 to 24, with the aim of setting a round price (which was €3,00 at the time). At the time, Fortuna was the second best-selling brand on the cigarette market. In 2007 it obtained 10.665 million cigarettes were sold, with an increase in volume of 3%, which allowed it to increase its quota by 0.3 points to reach almost 14% of the segment of blond cigarettes. The great rival of Altadis is Philip Morris International, which advanced in global market share last month (32.26% vs. 31.39%), according to data from the Commissioner for the Market of Tobacco, published in the Expansión.^[2]

In 2013, Fortuna was the fourth best-selling brand in Spain with more than 184,000,000 packs sold.^[3]

In 2015, the taxes of Fortuna, Ducados and Nobel were once again increased from €4.40 to €4.45; an increase of 5 cents.^[4]

In December 2016, Altadis raised the price of their Fortuna, Ducados and Nobel brands with 10 cents, while opting to keep their Fortuna soft pack brand at €4,45.^[5][6]

Advertising[]

Tabacalera and Altadis made various poster and magazine advertisements in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s to promote the Fortuna brand.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]}

Besides poster and magazine adverts, a few TV adverts were also made. Some were made for Spain, but also for other countries such as Venezuela.^{[19][20][21][22]}

A few telephone cards have also been made, featuring Fortuna adverting on them.^[23][24]

Other memorabilia that Tabacalera made during the time, includes lighters, calendars and game cars, featuring Fortuna advertising.^{[25][26][27][18]}

Sponsorship[]

The 2003 Fortuna Yamaha YZR-M1, driven by Carlos Checa (pictured top) and the 2006 Fortuna Honda RC211V, driven by Marco Melandri with alternative livery.

Grand prix motorcycle racing[]

Fortuna was a sponsor of various teams within the Grand Prix motorcycle racing classes. In races where anti-tobacco laws were in places (such as France and Germany) the Fortuna name was replaced with the "Spain's N°1" logo.

MotoGP[]

Fortuna sponsored the Pons Racing team in the 500cc class in 1995 and 1996.^[28][29]

Fortuna sponsored the Gresini Racing team in the MotoGP class in 2002 and 2006.^[30][31][32]

Fortuna sponsored the official Yamaha MotoGP team in the MotoGP class, along with Gauloises, from 2003 until 2005.^[33][34]

Fortuna sponsored the satellite Yamaha MotoGP Tech 3 team in the MotoGP class from 2003 until 2005.^[35]

250cc[]

Fortuna sponsored the Gresini Racing team in the 250cc class in 2002 and 2003.^[36]

Fortuna sponsored the Honda team in the 250cc class in 2004 and 2005.^[37]

Fortuna sponsored the Aprilia Racing team in the 250cc class in 2006 and 2007.^[38][39]

24 Hours of Le Mans[]

Fortuna sponsored the Brun Motorsport team in the 1980s.^[40][41][42]

Markets[]

Fortuna is mainly sold in Spain, but was or still is sold in Morocco, Italy, France, Austria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Venezuela and Brazil.^[43][44][45] In the United States, Fortuna cigarettes are manufactured by Commonwealth Brands in Reidsville, North Carolina.^{[citation needed]}

See also[]

• Cigarette
• Fortuna Cigarettes
• Tobacco smoking

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fortuna (cigarettes).