Reynold’s American, the US’ second largest tobacco company has officially agreed to buy Lorillard, the third largest US tobacco company for $27.4 billion. Reynold’s American is most noted for manufacturing Camel and Pall Mall cigarette brands while Lorillard is best known as the maker of Newport cigarettes. To assuage anti-trust concerns, both Reynolds and Lorillard agreed to sell some of its smaller brands to Imperial Tobacco. For $7.1 billion, Imperial Tobacco will buy Kool and Salem from Reynolds and Blu e-cigarettes from Lorillard. Through this purchase Imperial becomes the new third largest US tobacco company with 10% marketshare.

In the face of declining smoking rates and an evolving tobacco landscape with the entrance of e-cigarettes, the merger is a way for Reynolds and Lorillard to increase competition for the market leader, the Altria Group. Altria is the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, a brand that accounts for nearly 50% of cigarettes sold in the US.

Explore the presence of these brands at the point-of-sale by visiting Counter Tobacco’s media gallery. Counter Tobacco has recently uploaded over 20 new photos of tobacco marketing at the POS, make sure to check them out here. Help shine a light on tobacco industry activity in your community by sharing your images of tobacco marketing at the point of sale. Counter Tobacco has also updated our gallery in order to make image uploads easier for you! Photos you share help tobacco control advocates to make the case for implementing policy solutions that diminish the presence POS tobacco marketing.

For more information on the Reynolds-Lorillard merger, read the New York Times and USA Today articles.

Last updated October 11, 2023