SAX (also known as SAX Musical) is an Italian brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by BAT Italia, a subsidiary of

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the large ...

History

The brand was founded in 1961 and was sold in a traditional red pack with a

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

emitting music until 1979, when the design was overhauled and the pack design was changed to dark green. It is known as one of the older-style brand of cigarettes, along with MS and Alfa. The brand was originally owned by the ''"Monopolio di Stato"'' or State Monopoly in English, until the Ente Tabacchi Italiani company was founded in 1998 and took over all manufacturing. After ETI got taken over by

and became BAT Italia, the company is responsible for production of the brand. The brand is currently marketed as a mid-tier brand which is not too expensive. In March 2004, it was reported that the price of cigarettes was increased by 50 cents and a pack of SAX cigarettes cost €2,80. In January 2015, it was reported that the price of cigarettes was increased by 40 cents and a pack of SAX cigarettes cost €4,50. As of 2017, a 20-pack of SAX cigarettes cost €4,40.

Controversy

Italian smokers want compensation over deceit of cigarettes

In June 2010, it was reported that 3.5 million Italian smokers demanded compensation from BAT Italia due to the increasement of the addictiveness of their cigarettes and not eliminating the nicotine in their cigarettes. The compensation that every person can claim is €3000 and the brands in question are MS, Alfa, Bis, Brera, Colombo, Cortina, Esportazione, Eura, HB,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, Lido, MS Club, Mundial, Nazionale, Nazionali, N80, Rothmans, SAX Musical, St. Moritz, Stop, Super, Zenit,

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

, Dunhill,

Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Throughout their 150 year history, Lucky Strike has had fluctuating ...

and Pall Mall.

Sponsorship

MotoGP

SAX cigarettes were a sponsor of the

Aprilia 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. ...

Racing Team in the

2003 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 2003 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 55th F.I.M. Road racing World Championship season. The season consisted of 16 races, beginning with the Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix on 6 April 2003 and ending with the Valencian Community mo ...

Products

Below is a list of all the SAX cigarette variants: * SAX Musical Passion (Formerly called SAX Special and SAX Red) * SAX Musical Emotion (Formerly called SAX Light and SAX Blu) * SAX Musical Sensation (Formerly known as SAX Ultra and SAX Azure)

Ingredients

The following ingredients are used in all SAX cigarette variants: * Tobacco * Water *

Monopropylene Glycol Propylene glycol (IUPAC name: propane-1,2-diol) is a viscous, colorless liquid, which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste. Its chemical formula is CH3CH(OH)CH2OH. Containing two alcohol groups, it is classed as a diol. It is ...

* Sugars (

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

invert sugar Inverted sugar syrup, also called invert syrup, invert sugar, simple syrup, sugar syrup, sugar water, bar syrup, syrup USP, or sucrose inversion, is a syrup mixture of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose, that is made by hydrolytic sacch ...

cane sugar Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

sorbitol Sorbitol (), less commonly known as glucitol (), is a sugar alcohol with a sweet taste which the human body metabolizes slowly. It can be obtained by reduction of glucose, which changes the converted aldehyde group (−CHO) to a primary alcohol g ...

) *

Licorice Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liq ...

juice * Cocoa * Honey * Natural and artificial flavors

References

{{British American Tobacco British American Tobacco brands Products introduced in 1961 Cigarette brands