Winfield (cigarette)

Winfield is a brand of cigarette that is popular in Australia and New Zealand. They are also sold in other markets in Europe, Canada, South Africa and Asia. They are manufactured under license by British American Tobacco Australia (BATA) and have been available in Australia since 1972.

Winfield products

The table below is a summary of the complete Winfield product line in Australia. Whilst different descriptors may be used, the Red and Blue varieties are typically always available in all markets where Winfield are sold. Furthermore, in some markets, Winfield appears in a standard pack size of 30 or 20, whereas 25 is the standard in Australia. Winfield is available in packs of 20, 25, and 30 in Australia.

Hard Pack (King Size 25's & 20's)	Soft Pack (King Size 20's)- No longer available since 2008	Charcoal Filter (King Size 25's)	Roll-Your-Own (20g and 50g)
Winfield Red (16 mg)	Winfield Red	Winfield Red	Winfield Red
Winfield Blue (12 mg)	Winfield Blue	Winfield Blue	Winfield Blue Winfield Yellow Export
Winfield Gold (8 mg)	Winfield Gold	Winfield Gold	Winfield Gold
Winfield Sky Blue (6 mg)	Winfield Sky Blue	Winfield Sky Blue
Winfield Grey (4 mg)
Winfield Original White plus Tasteflow filter (1 mg)
Winfield Menthol (8 mg)
Winfield Cool Menthol (4 mg)

Various pack designs from the 1970s, until the introduction of plain packaging law

Tar content is shown after the product name. Due to the mistaken belief by many Australian smokers that 'light' or 'low tar' cigarettes are better for their health than regular cigarettes, and in response to action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in 2005, the major tobacco companies have agreed to remove the misleading terms 'light' and 'mild' from their packaging^[1]

Also, BATA is the only manufacturer to have clear "use by" date codes on their packets, unlike ITA and PMI, which use codes only known in the industry.

Sport sponsorship

Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore VP of Mark Skaife at Lakeside International Raceway in April 1994

Winfield was a major sponsor of sport in Australia until outlawed by the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 that banned all tobacco advertising and sponsorship from December 1995.^[2]

From 1982 until 1995, it was title sponsor of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership with the winner of the grand final receiving the Winfield Cup.

The ban on tobacco advertising also affected other forms of motor racing in Australia. From the 1970s until 1995, Winfield sponsored a number of high-profile teams in Speedway, Drag racing and Superbike racing. Winfield also sponsored the annual Triple Challenge at Eastern Creek each January between 1992 and 1995.

From 1992 until 1995, Winfield was title sponsor of Australian motor racing team Gibson Motorsport. Highlights included Mark Skaife winning two Australian Touring Car Championships in 1992 and 1994, as well as the Australian Drivers' Championship in 1992 and 1993. Skaife and Jim Richards also won the 1992 Bathurst 1000.

Some limited exemptions were granted for the Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Open Golf, hence Winfield was seen at the Australian Grand Prix in 1998 and 1999 when it was title sponsor of the Williams F1 Team.

Advertising and promotions

Winfield had also enjoyed a long and fruitful association with Australian actor Paul Hogan, who helped popularise the brand through television and print advertising. The television commercials created by Sydney agency Hertz Walpole in the 1970s were particularly successful. A series of amusing events would happen to Hogan, who would always end the advertisement by saying "...anyhow" and lighting a Winfield. Within two years of Hogan's first commercials, Winfield became the top selling cigarette in Australia. The slogan "...anyhow, have a Winfield 25's" is still easily recalled today, even after cigarette advertising has long been banned in Australia.

Today, the 'anyhow' slogan is very rare, except for appearing in some limited marketing materials.

Other slogans found on an Australian Winfield packet prior to introduction of plain packaging laws include "Australia's own since 1972" which is located on the silver foil insert, and "The Genuine Australian" on the top of the lid. Also, if looked closely onto the emblem of Winfield the motto "Force no friend, fear no foe" can be seen on older packets. If an old Winfield packet is turned upside down the word "PLAY" can be seen clearly. Since introduction of plain packaging, none of these mottos or slogans have been visible on cigarette packaging.

Brand development

Typical 1970s/1980s advertisement

Winfield's market dominance encouraged the development of menthol and lower tar varieties. Differing tar strengths are easily distinguished within the Winfield brand family by the pack colour—i.e. the strongest variety come in predominantly dark red packaging, the menthol variety in green etc. The differing tar strengths once gave the cigarettes different "official" names. The strongest variety, containing on average 16 mg of tar were Winfield Filters. The next strongest variety, containing on average 12 mg of tar were Winfield Extra Mild. However, due to the distinctive packaging the brand was colloquially referred to by the colour. A recent settlement between the ACCC and the tobacco industry in Australia resulted in the withdrawal of such descriptors as "Mild" "Extra Mild" and "Light" in relation to cigarettes, on the grounds that this may mislead smokers into thinking one cigarette was safer than another. This has mirrored recent developments in the United Kingdom as well. Other brands under BATA's control have opted to use "approved" descriptors such as "Smooth" "Rich" and "Fine", that the ACCC has approved as not misleading. However, with the Winfield brand BATA has opted to use the pack colouring as the descriptor. Thus the brand's differing products are now officially known by names which they had been colloquially known anyway, i.e. Winfield Red, Winfield Blue, etc.

Winfield entered the Australian market in 1972 in the common pack size of 20's. They were the first brand in Australia to launch a pack size of 25's and used this to convey their image of being good value to the everyday Australian. Typical advertisements at the time noted that Winfield was "5 smokes ahead of the rest". Winfield remain available in Australia today in 20's or 25's.

In 1998, a "Deluxe Soft Pack 20" variant on the brand was released. These cigarettes were aimed at a more premium market, and differed in taste and strength from the traditional Winfields available in packs of 25. Winfield Deluxe Filters for example, contained 14 mg of tar, whereas the traditional Winfield Filter contained (and contains) 16 mg. This variant attracted a disappointing market share, and was consequently withdrawn from the market. Soft pack Winfields were relaunched in 2000, and have become the best selling soft pack cigarette on the Australian market. Apart from the packaging though, there is nothing to differentiate them from their hard pack counterparts. These have been discontinued in 2008, with information distributed to the trade in February announcing this decision.

In 2006, a new product extension was made available in the Australian market, with a number of varieties being released in a charcoal filter. The packaging for these products varies from the traditional products with a predominantly brushed-silver package and coloured lettering indicating the strength (Blue, Gold, Sky Blue or White).

In 2014, Winfield introduced a new filter to some of its cigarettes, marketed as Tasteflow. The top half is hollow, which Winfield claims improves the taste of the cigarette while less of the filter touches the smokes mouth.

References

1. "'Light' or 'low tar' cigarettes" (PDF). Quit Victoria, 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
2. Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 Government of Australia

External links

• British American Tobacco Australia