Fortuna is a Hispanic brand of
cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
-
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
company
Altadis
Altadis is a Spanish-French multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. It was formed via a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and , the former French tobacco monopoly. Through i ...
, a subsidiary of
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mo ...
. Fortuna is
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
for fortune or
luck
Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...
.
History
![Fortuna cigarettes (Spain) - front](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Fortuna_cigarettes_%28Spain%29_-_front.jpg)
Fortuna was first introduced in 1974 in
Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
by
Tabacalera
Tabacalera, formerly the Compañía Arrendataria de Tabacos, was a Spanish tobacco monopoly whose origins date back to 1636, making it the oldest tobacco company in the world.
In 1999, the company merged with SEITA of France to form Altadis, ...
, a Spanish tobacco conglomerate which is now half of the Altadis corporation. When Fortuna was launched in 1974, the market was dominated by black tobacco and the few international brands of blonde (light) cigarettes that were very expensive for the Spanish smoker. As a response to this, Tabacalera launched Fortuna cigarettes which were a type of blonde tobacco with a filter. With Fortuna came the first American blonde flavoured cigarette and in its first six months almost 700 million cigarettes were sold. Ten years later, it spread internationally, first in France, and then in countries like Italy,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
and the United States. For more than thirty years, Fortuna has been the best-selling brand in the blonde cigarette market, surpassing even the arrival of international brands in Spain. The tobacco mixture used in Fortuna cigarettes is of a
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
type.
In April 2008, Altadis changed the pack design to a "new and modernized look" and reduced the number of its big pack cigarettes from 25 to 24, with the aim of setting a round price (which was €3,00 at the time). At the time, Fortuna was the second best-selling brand on the cigarette market. In 2007 it obtained 10.665 million cigarettes were sold, with an increase in the volume of 3%, which allowed it to increase its quota by 0.3 points to reach almost 14% of the segment of blond cigarettes. The great rival of Altadis is
Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris International is often ref ...
.
In 2013, Fortuna was the fourth best-selling brand in Spain with more than 184,000,000 packs sold.
In 2015, the taxes of Fortuna, Ducados, and Nobel were once again increased from €4.40 to €4.45; an increase of 5 cents.
In December 2016, Altadis raised the price of their Fortuna,
Ducados, and Nobel brands by 10 cents, while opting to keep their Fortuna soft pack brand at €4,45.
Advertising
Tabacalera and Altadis made various poster and magazine advertisements in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s to promote the Fortuna brand.
Besides poster and magazine adverts, a few TV adverts were also made. Some were made for Spain, but also for other countries such as Venezuela.
A few
telephone card
A telephone card, calling card or phonecard for short, is a credit card-size plastic or paper card, used to pay for telephone services (often international or long-distance calling). It is not necessary to have the physical card except with a st ...
s have also been made, featuring Fortuna adverting on them.
Other memorabilia that Tabacalera made during the time, includes lighters, calendars and game cars, featuring Fortuna advertising.
Sponsorship
Grand prix motorcycle racing
Fortuna was a sponsor of various teams within the
Grand Prix motorcycle racing classes. In races where
anti-tobacco laws were in places (such as
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
) the Fortuna name was replaced with the ''"Spain's N°1"'' logo.
MotoGP
Fortuna sponsored the
Pons Racing
Pons Racing is a motorcycle and auto racing team owned by the British company Pons Racing UK Limited. The team principal is former 250 cc world champion, Sito Pons. In motorcycle road racing world championships, Pons has fielded riders su ...
team in the 500cc class in
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...
and
1996.
Fortuna sponsored the
Gresini Racing
Gresini Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP World Championship under the name Gresini Racing MotoGP as a Ducati satellite team, in the Moto2 World Championship as Team Gresini Moto2, and the MotoE World Cup as Felo Gresin ...
team in the MotoGP class in
2002 and
2006.
Fortuna sponsored the official
Yamaha MotoGP team in the MotoGP class, along with
Gauloises
Gauloises (, "Gaulish" eminine pluralin French; ''cigarette'' is a feminine noun in French) is a brand of cigarette of French origin. It is produced by the company Imperial Tobacco following its acquisition of Altadis in January 2008 in most cou ...
, from
2003 until
2005.
Fortuna sponsored the satellite
Yamaha MotoGP Tech 3
Tech3 is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP class World Championship under the name Tech3 GasGas Factory Racing. They also compete in the Moto3 World Championship under the name Red Bull KTM Tech3 and the MotoE World Cup under the ...
team in the MotoGP class from
2003 until
2005.
250cc
Fortuna sponsored the
Gresini Racing
Gresini Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP World Championship under the name Gresini Racing MotoGP as a Ducati satellite team, in the Moto2 World Championship as Team Gresini Moto2, and the MotoE World Cup as Felo Gresin ...
team in the 250cc class in
2002 and
2003.
Fortuna sponsored the Honda team in the 250cc class in
2004 and
2005.
Fortuna sponsored the
Aprilia Racing
Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded immediately after World War II in Noale, Italy, by Alberto Beggio. The company started as a manufacturer of bicycles and moved on to manufacture scooters and small-capacity motorcycles. ...
team in the 250cc class in
2006 and
2007.
Sportscar racing
Fortuna sponsored the
Brun Motorsport {{Unsourced, date=December 2016
Brun Motorsport GmbH was a Swiss auto racing team founded by driver Walter Brun in 1983. They competed as a Porsche privateer team in sports car racing for their entire existence, running in a multitude of interna ...
team in the 1980s.
Markets
Fortuna is mainly sold in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, but was or still is sold in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
and
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, Fortuna cigarettes are manufactured by Commonwealth Brands in
Reidsville, North Carolina.
See also
*
Tobacco smoking
Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed ...
References
{{Imperial Tobacco
Altadis brands
Products introduced in 1974
Imperial Brands brands