Roxy

Roxy was a Dutch cigarette brand that was manufactured by Royal Theodorus Niemeyer in Groningen, now owned by British American Tobacco. History Roxy was created on 19 March 1951 by Theodorus Niemeijer. Their slogan was "'n Roxy?....ja graag!" ("a Roxy?....yes please!"). The brand was developed specifically as a cigarette which contained lower tar and nicotine. Although in the advertising for the cigarette references to health damage by smoking were avoided, scientific publications about the effects of smoking led to the creation of this cigarette. The consumer consciously wanted a safer cigarette. In 1962 the Consumentenbond did a comparative study of the tar and nicotine content in various cigarettes, in which Roxy had the lowest levels of tar and nicotine. As a result, the market share of Roxy cigarette grew compared to the other cigarette brands. Dutch celebrities like John Kraaijkamp Sr. starred in various Star commercials during a time when tobacco advertising was still allowed. In 1978, the football player Johan Cruyff starred in an advertising campaign called "Johan Cruyff: Rook Verstandig" (Johan Cruyff: Smoke Wisely), in which Cruyff promoted the Roxy Dual filter cigarette: "Maar ik vind: als je rookt, moet je wel verstandig roken" ("But I find: if you smoke, you have to smoke consciously". After complaints from mainly Konsumenten Kontakt (Consumer Contact) , the ad was promptly banned by the Reclame Code Commissie (Advertising Code Committee).