Eve Cigarettes, are manufactured in the USA as a product of the Liggett Group, the smallest of the major U.S. tobacco companies, as well as in Germany, as a product of Philip Morris International. Within the USA, they were introduced in 1971 as competition for rival Philip Morris corporation's Virginia Slims, a cigarette targeted at the growing women's market. Virginia Slims, the world's first cigarette marketed specifically to women were aimed at women who identified themselves as liberated, independent, and modern; Eves were aimed at women content to be feminine. Virginia Slims were always the more successful brand.
Eve cigarettes used very feminine art and marketing, starting with the cigarette itself which was long and slim, originally 100mm but lengthened to 120mm within two years, in order to be more readily identified with the feminine ideals of slimness and length. The filter and box of earlier generation Eves were decorated with flowers to look feminine and fashionable, specifically signifying that this was a lady's cigarette, as well as to catch the eye of consumers.
The advertising approach was to make Eve appear to be a beautiful cigarette which made the woman who chose to smoke Eves more attractive, creating a sense of appeal to feminine vanity. Accordingly, the objective was to capture the market share from other brands, particularly other brands targeted to women, and to recruit non-smokers, suggesting that an Eve smoker is more attractive than a woman who did not smoke.
The marketing approach was designed to be very feminine. Models were very elegant, ladylike, and elaborately made up. Advertising text complemented the feminine imagery. In 1976 Eves were even marketed in association with a fashion line with colors and floral prints similar to Eve cigarette packs. The message was that women who smoked Eves were feminine, ladylike, and ladies of leisure. Slogans used included "Finally a cigarette as pretty as you" and "Every inch the lady".
For almost 40 years Eve cigarettes have been aimed at the same niche market, women and young girls who wish to appear ladylike. They have not sold as well as the competing Virginia Slims cigarettes, which have always had broader appeal.
The packaging has evolved to keep up with the times. Packaging went from a soft pack with the trademark flowers and drawing of Eve in the garden (gen. 1) to losing the female figure and retaining only the flowers (gen. 2) then moving the flowers to a band lengthwise on a white cardboard box (gen. 3). This packaging went unchanged until 1992 when the small multicolored flowers were replaced by thin orchid-like flowers in jewel tones on the box, and a single small colored flower on the filter band of the cigarette (gen. 4). In Germany the packaging and cigarette design did not change, retaining the floral band. Menthol versions of Eve used similar designs but with more green tones. Shorter 100mm Eves in Regular and Menthol boxes were reintroduced in 1985 but gradually disappeared due to lack of interest. In 1990 Eve Ultra Lights 120s were introduced in Regular and Menthol, promising lowered tar and nicotine, and milder flavor. Packaging was white flip top box with long stemmed flowers done in pale pastels, with a single pale pastel flower on the filter band. Menthols were similar but with more green. After 1992 packaging remained unchanged until 2002, except for yet another unsuccessful reintroduction of 100mm length Eve Lights and Eve Ultra Lights in 1991. In 2002 the flowers were replaced by butterflies (gen. 5). Ultra Lights lost the long stemmed flowers they had since their introduction and unified with the regulars for the first time by assuming the butterfly motif, with different colors identifying Ultra Lights (blue) and Menthol Ultra Lights (teal), to complement the colors identifying Lights (purple) and Menthol |Lights (green). In 2002 soft pack 100s were reintroduced yet again, using the butterfly design of the 120s. And as before, 100s gradually disappeared.
As of 2010[update] four styles of Eve cigarettes were available; Eve Lights 120s, Eve Ultra Lights 120s, Eve Menthol Lights 120s, and Eve Menthol Ultra Lights 120s. The butterfly band around the filter and above the rings with the Eve logo was done in a subtle watermark, instead of bright colors as had been done in the past. By July 2010, in keeping with the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the words "lights" and "ultralights" had been removed. Eve Lights 120s were renamed Eve Amethyst 120s, Eve Ultralights 120s were renamed Eve Sapphire 120s, Eve Menthol Lights 120s were renamed Eve Menthol Emerald 120s, and Eve Menthol Ultralights 120s were renamed Eve Menthol Turquoise 120s.
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