Tobacco Brand Preferences

• Ninety�nine percent of all cigarettes sold in the United States are filtered.¹
   
• Cigarette brands that yield approximately 1�6 mg of tar by machine testing conducted by the Federal Trade Commission are generally called "ultra-light." Those with approximately 6�15 mg of tar are called "light," and brands yielding more than 15 mg of tar are called "regular" or "full flavor."² Of all cigarettes sold in the United States, 85 percent are either light or ultra�light (i.e., low tar) brands.¹
   
• In 2004, sales data indicate that Marlboro is the most popular brand in the United States, with sales greater than the five leading competitors combined. The market share for Marlboro is 39 percent, followed by Newport (8 percent), Camel (6 percent), Doral (5 percent), Winston (4 percent), and Basic (4 percent).³
   
• National survey data for 2004 revealed that Marlboro is preferred by 49 percent of cigarette smokers aged 12�17 years, 52 percent of smokers aged 18�25 years, and 41 percent of smokers aged 26 years or older.⁴
   
• Twenty�seven percent of all cigarettes sold in the United States are mentholated brands.¹
   
• Use of mentholated brands varies widely by race and ethnicity. Among smokers aged 12 years or older, 68 percent of African Americans reported using the mentholated brands of Newport, Salem, or Kool, compared to less than 20 percent of white or Hispanic smokers.⁴ Fifty�five percent of African American middle school students who smoke and 64 percent of African American high school students who smoke reported using mentholated brands.⁵
  
   

• The two leading brands preferred by cigar smokers aged 12 years or older are Black & Mild (22 percent) and Swisher Sweets (16 percent).⁴ As with cigarettes, use varies by race/ethnicity: Swisher Sweets is the most preferred brand for white cigar smokers (18 percent), but Black & Mild is the most preferred brand for African�American (56 percent) and Hispanic (21 percent) cigar smokers.⁴
   
• The two leading brands preferred by smokeless tobacco users aged 12 years or older are Skoal (30 percent) and Copenhagen (22 percent).⁴
  
   

References

1	Federal Trade Commission. Cigarette Report for 2003. ( PDF - 446K) Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission; 2005. Accessed: September 2005.
2	National Cancer Institute. Risks Associated with Smoking Cigarettes with Low Machine-Measured Yields of Tar and Nicotine. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 13. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute; 2001. NIH Pub. No. 02-5974. Accessed: February 2004.
3	Maxwell JC. The Maxwell Report: Year End & Fourth Quarter 2004 Sales Estimates for the Cigarette Industr. Richmond, VA: John C. Maxwell, Jr.; February 2005.
4	Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health: 2004 Detailed Tables, Tobacco Brands.  Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies; 2005.
5	CDC. 2004 National Youth Tobacco Survey: Dataset, Codebook and Format Library.

Note: More recent information may be available at the CDC'S Office on Smoking and Health Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco.

Office on Smoking and Health
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This page last reviewed December 09, 2005

United States Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health