RJ Reynolds first launched Red Kamel cigarettes in 1913 as an up-scale companion to the more plebian Camel. Like many upwardly mobile products, Red Kamels did not survive the depression, and were dropped in 1936. It would be sixty years before Red Kamel came out of the wilderness. In 1996 they resurfaced not in corner stores or smoke-shops, but in the urban-chic watering holes of sophisticated cities. Red Kamel cigarettes were first launched through bars and clubs in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Dallas. A second wave brought it to bars and clubs in a dozen other North American cities, including Toronto. Red Kamel's cigarette advertisers chose images well-suited to their target market of young urban sophisticates. The Red Kamel cigarette theme is neither completely retro, nor completely futuristic, but in the no-man's land of Generation X. |