Português (named Português Suave until 2001) was a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
of
cigarette
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 opp ...
s manufactured by Tabaqueira, a
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of
Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris I ...
.
[Tabaqueira vai acabar com marcas Português azul e vermelho](_blank)
Luís Villalobos, Público, 18 de Novembro de 2011
History
The brand was founded in 1929 during the
Dictatorial Portugal regime and was one of the most popular brands in Portugal during the 1980s and 1990s. However, after foreign brands were introduced and started to dominate the market, the brand gradually lost appeal to the Portuguese smoker. The original name of the brand was called "Português Suave" (literally "Smooth" or "Soft Portuguese"), but the name was changed in 2001 to respect the anti-tobacco laws that prohibit the sale of cigarettes with names like "smooth", "light" or "mild".
Português was one of the first unfiltered cigarettes in Portugal, and was one of the last to be discontinued in 2003, when the brand was sold with a filter only.
As of 2011, the variants ''"Português Vermelho (Red)"'' and ''"Português Azul (Blue)"'' have been discontinued.
Packaging
The packs feature various colour patterns (red, blue, yellow, etc.) but it is mainly distinguished by the
Belém Tower
Belém Tower ( pt, Torre de Belém, links=no, ), officially the Tower of Vincent of Saragossa, Saint Vincent ( pt, Torre de São Vicente, links=no) is a 16th-century fortification located in Lisbon that served as a point of embarkation and dis ...
on the top of the pack. The reason for this, is that in its origin, Português Suave was based on the architectural style with the same name, which marked the 1930s. The suave Portuguese style emerged from a chain of architects, at the beginning of the 20th century. Also known as the
Estado Novo style, it sought to create a ''"genuinely Portuguese"'' architecture. The result was the creation of a style of architecture that introduced new engineering techniques, such as the use of concrete structures, which came to revolutionize not only the way of building but also the way of thinking about buildings. The style was a mixture of exterior aesthetic elements taken from the Portuguese architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries and the traditional houses of the various regions of Portugal.
Various
special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
versions have also been released over the years, containing other known Portuguese monuments on the packs.
Controversy
Português cigarettes contain pesticides
In November 2004, the newspaper Portugal Resident revealed that various Portuguese cigarette variants contained the toxin
Dieldrin
Dieldrin is an organochloride originally produced in 1948 by J. Hyman & Co, Denver, as an insecticide. Dieldrin is closely related to aldrin, which reacts further to form dieldrin. Aldrin is not toxic to insects; it is oxidized in the insect to fo ...
, which is a banned
carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...
ic pesticide in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and 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 territorie ...
. A few variants of the
SG brand were found to contain this pesticide, but this pesticide was not found in the Português cigarettes.
Ironically, dieldrin is less toxic than the cigarette itself.
See also
*
Soft Portuguese style
Soft may refer to:
* Softness, or hardness, a property of physical materials
Arts and entertainment
* ''Soft!'', a 1988 novel by Rupert Thomson
* Soft (band), an American music group
* ''Soft'' (album), by Dan Bodan, 2014
* Softs (album), by Sof ...
- an architecture style named after the brand's former name
*
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
{{Philip Morris International
Philip Morris brands