Strand (cigarette)

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Strand was a brand of cigarettes produced by W.D. & H.O. Wills (part of Imperial Tobacco), launched in 1959 but withdrawn in the early 1960s. The launch was accompanied by a huge television advertising campaign, You're never alone with a Strand. They also ran advertisements in newspapers offering a free pack of Strand cigarettes if you filled in a coupon and sent it in.^[1]

[edit] You're never alone with a Strand

This television advertisement depicted a dark, wet, deserted London street scene in which a rain coated character, played by Terence Brooks, looking similar to Frank Sinatra, lit a cigarette and puffed reflectively. This was accompanied by an instrumental, The Lonely Man Theme by Cliff Adams, playing in the background and a voice-over declared "You're never alone with a Strand".^[2]

The commercial, written by John May, was popular with the public, with Brooks becoming a star and the music reaching 39 in the British single charts.^[3] However, sales of the brand were poor and it was soon taken off the market. The public associated smoking Strand cigarettes with being lonely and were put off from buying them.^[4]

It is regarded as one of the most disastrous tobacco advertising campaigns of all time.^[5]