Uptown cigarette pack
1989
“Upchuck Chunks”
Doctors Ought to Care (DOC) parody of Uptown
1989
“Don’t Aim That Pack at Us”
News article by Michael Quinn
TIME, vol. 135, no. 5, page 60
January 29, 1990
“Uptown, a premium menthol cigarette, will be introduced by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. into test market on Feb. 5.”
R. J. Reynolds press release
December 12, 1989
“De-marketing Uptown by laughing it out of town may be an important step in undermining RJR.”
Letter from Alan Blum, MD, to Tracy Orleans, PhD, regarding efforts to prevent the introduction of the R. J. Reynolds brand, Uptown
January 10, 1990
Controversy Surrounding
The Uptown Cigarette Brand
Cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds developed Uptown in 1989, the first cigarette brand created and aimed specifically at African Americans. The company planned to launch a six-month test market in Philadelphia in February 1990, which generated grassroots opposition from the black community and the formation of the Coalition Against Uptown Cigarettes. Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Louis Sullivan, MD, attracted national news media coverage when he condemned the new cigarette brand. In response to numerous organized protests, R.J. Reynolds withdrew Uptown in January 1990.
“Tobacco Company Pulls ‘Black Cigarette’”
News article by Aline McKenzie
Vallejo Times Herald, pages A1-A2
January 20, 1990
“Reynolds right to drop black-aimed cigarette test”
Column by Robert Newberry
Houston Post, page A-21
January 24, 1990