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R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
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===Uptown=== In 1990, R. J. Reynolds planned to launch a new cigarette brand called Uptown, aimed primarily at African-Americans. To appeal to black Americans seeking a less pronounced menthol taste (similar to Lorillard's Newport, which was gaining share), Reynolds decided against using green on the packaging, and instead used black and gold, the colors of luxury European cigarettes.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/12/business/a-cigarette-campaign-under-fire.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | work=The New York Times | first=Anthony | last=Ramirez | title=A Cigarette Campaign Under Fire | date=1990-01-12}}</ref> Narrowing the marketing further, Uptown cigarettes were to be packed with filters facing down, the reverse of the usual arrangement. Market research indicated that many African-American smokers open packs from the bottom, possibly to avoid crushing the filters.<ref name="nytimes.com" /> It was later discovered that cigarette packs were opened from the bottom for a different reason: "This phenomenon traces back at least to World War II, when cigarettes were a valued commodity among soldiers. Often a soldier temporarily without cigarettes and without funds would ''bum'' a smoke from a fellow soldier. It was impolite to refuse such a request. However, there were two occasions when a refusal was not considered impolite: if there was only one cigarette left in the pack and if the pack was not yet opened. A pack opened from the bottom and resting, as it normally did, in a shirt pocket would appear unopened. Therefore, the soldier in possession of cigarettes would be able to avoid having to give too many away."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/31/opinion/l-mystery-of-the-bottom-opened-cigarette-pack-011890.html | work=The New York Times | title=Mystery of the Bottom-Opened Cigarette Pack | date=1990-01-31}}</ref> The promotional blitz was scheduled to begin on February 5, 1990, and Philadelphia was selected as the test market because of its large black population. Before it began, the campaign came under fire from religious, health and black-interest groups who expressed concerns about promoting cigarette smoking to African-Americans.<ref name="legacy.library.ucsf.edu">{{cite web|url=http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/h/a/x/hax72e00/Shax72e00.pdf|title=Industry Documents Library|access-date=23 October 2016}}</ref> On January 19, 1990, Reynolds abruptly decided to cancel the cigarette, saying that the test marketing would no longer be reliable because of what it called, "the unfair and biased attention that brand has received".<ref name="legacy.library.ucsf.edu" />
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