Karo (official spelling: ''KARO'') is a German
brand of filterless
cigarettes
A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the oppo ...
, currently owned and manufactured by
Altria
Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc.) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in ...
(previously by
Philip Morris International). Karo is the german word for "diamond" (a suit of cards).
History
KARO was originally launched as ''Carré'' in the early 1960s, but was later "Germanised" into "KARO".
KARO cigarettes were formerly produced in
East Germany by the ''"VEB Zigarettenfabriken Dresden"'', and because it was produced in the German Democratic Republic, the cigarette was made only from tobacco without added perfumes, fragrances and flavour enhancers.
A pack of filterless KARO cigarettes sold for 1.60
M per box of 20 cigarettes, which made it one of the cheapest cigarettes on the Eastern market.
In East Germany, the cigarettes had been nicknamed ''"Lungentorpedo"'' (''"Lung torpedo"'') on the basis of their unique and strong taste.
KARO-smokers often objected to jokes because of it.
In East-Germany, the cigarette was widespread, especially among prison inmates. In West-Germany, the brand was hardly sold because it was difficult to obtain.
After the
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, the brand was advertised with the slogan that it was an "attack on the taste of the unification".
In popular culture
Wolfgang Lippert sang it in 1982 in his hit ''Erna kommt'' (''"Erna comes"''), with
Hugo Egon Balder
Hugo Egon Balder (born Egon Hugo Balder; 22 March 1950) is a German television presenter, producer, and comedian.
Early life
Balder was born in West Berlin to Egon Friedrich Balder (1904–1970) and Gerda Balder (née Schure; 1910–1997). Ger ...
's western cover version simply changing the words "a check" to "cigarette".
The brand was also smoked by Jürgen Wolff from "Folkländer" and Bernd Stamm from "Polkatoffel". The brand was especially popular in the East German
Folk music scene.
See also
*
Tobacco smoking
*
Caballero (cigarette)
Caballero is a Dutch brand of unfiltered cigarettes owned and manufactured by British American Tobacco. ''Caballero'' is the Spanish word for knight.
History
Caballero was founded shortly after World War II. In 1945, the Dutch advertising agenc ...
*
Mantano (cigarette)
References
{{Philip Morris International
Philip Morris brands