America's Best Chew
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America's Best Chew (formerly Red Man) is an American brand of
chewing tobacco Chewing tobacco is a type of smokeless tobacco, smokeless tobacco product that is placed between the cheek and lower Gums, gum to draw out its flavor. It consists of coarsely chopped aged tobacco that is flavored and often sweetened; it is not gr ...
introduced in 1904.History of chewing tobacco
. Swedish Match. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
Red Man traditionally came as leaf tobacco, in contrast to twist chewing tobacco or the ground tobacco used in snuff. It is made by the Pinkerton Tobacco company of
Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a Home rule in the United States, home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the List of cities in Kentucky, fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is loca ...
. In 1985, Pinkerton was acquired by a Swedish corporation, and after further corporate reshuffling, the brand now falls under the umbrella of the
Swedish Match Swedish Match AB is a Swedish multinational tobacco company headquartered in Stockholm. It has been owned by the American Philip Morris International since 2022. The company manufactures snus, nicotine pouches, moist snuff, tobacco- and nicotine ...
company, which in turn is owned primarily by institutional investors. The proportion owned by non-Swedish investors is approximately 80%.


History

The Red Man brand was introduced in 1904 by Pinkerton Tobacco (incorporated in 1901). Red Man was initially sold in a few
Midwestern The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
states; it expanded in 1954 into the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, and then in 1963 largely nationwide. The corporation's marketing material describes Red Man's consumer base: "A large number of consumers work outdoors and enjoy hunting, fishing and watch icauto racing." Contemporary materials from Swedish Match also suggest that the brand name came from something of an homage to American Indians. In January 2022, parent company Swedish Match announced that they would be changing brand's name to "America's Best Chew" and removing the depiction of a Native American chief on its packaging.


Advertising

Early in its history, Red Man advertisements were painted on the sides of barns, featuring an endorsement from baseball player
Nap Lajoie Napoléon Lajoie (; September 5, 1874 – February 7, 1959), also known as Larry Lajoie, was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "the Frenchman", he represented both Ph ...
: "Lajoie chews Red Man, ask him if he don't." During the 1920s and 30s, the company sponsored a professional basketball team – the Toledo Red Man Tobaccos. Marketing tie-ins with rural and outdoor sports have been a hallmark of the Red Man brand. From 1952 to 1955, Red Man produced a series of
baseball cards A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s, they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, s ...
, the only tobacco company to do so after 1920. The sets are valuable due to the appearance of 25 of the top players of 1952–55, including
Stan Musial Stanley Frank Musial (; born Stanislaw Franciszek Musial; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consistent ...
,
Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born Lorenzo Pietro Berra; May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seas ...
and
Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (May 6, 1931 – June 18, 2024), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of ...
. In 1982, Red Man launched its first TV advertising ever, produced by the ad agency
Benton & Bowles Benton & Bowles (B&B) was a New York–based advertising agency founded by William Benton and Chester Bowles in 1929. One of the oldest agencies in the United States, and frequently one of the 10 largest, it merged with D'Arcy-MacManus Masius to ...
. This decision came after Levi Garrett's aggressive entrance into the chewing tobacco market in the United States. Since then, the brand has sponsored competitive events including the "Red Man All-American Pulling Series", a
tractor pulling Truck and tractor pulling, also known as power pulling, is a form of a motorsport competition in which antique or modified tractors pull a heavy drag or sled along an , track, with the winner being the tractor that pulls the drag the farth ...
circuit, and the "Red Man All-American Bass Championship", a
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
competition. In 1991, under pressure from the
Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...
, which was enforcing a 1986 U.S. statute banning television ads for
smokeless tobacco Smokeless tobacco is a tobacco product that is used by means other than smoking. Their use involves chewing, sniffing, or placing the product between gum and the cheek or lip. Smokeless tobacco products are produced in various forms, such as ...
, Red Man agreed to stop displaying its "product logo, selling message or the color or design of the tobacco product or its package" during televised coverage of the tractor pulls. The competitive fishing circuit that culminated in the Bass Championship was sponsored by the company and called the "Red Man Tournament Trail" from 1983 to 2000, after which
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
took over as the name sponsor.


Flavors and varieties

*Golden Blend *Select *America's Best Chew Silver Blend *Original *Plug


Dipping tobacco

* America's Best Chew Cut Natural * America's Best Chew Long Cut Straight * Red Man Long Cut Wintergreen (discontinued in 2021)


References

{{reflist


External links


Shorpy
A photograph of outdoor advertising in Camden, NJ, 1939, showing the Red Man brand. Chewing tobacco brands Culture of the Southern United States Stereotypes of Native American people Name changes due to the George Floyd protests