London Facts Part IV
You’re never alone with a Strand…
In 1959, the Strand in London lent its’ name to a brand of cigarettes from W.D. & H.O. Wills (part of Imperial Tobacco). Strand Cigarettes were launched with a massive marketing campaign based around the line ‘You’re never alone with a strand’. A Frank Sinatra lookalike in a private-detective style trench-coat and trilby (think Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity) wandered London’s streets alone in the rain. He pauses under a streetlight, lights a Strand and cue the music (The Lonely Man Theme) and the strapline ‘You’re never alone with a Strand. The cigarette of the moment.’
It turns out the line was pretty prophetic - it really was the cigarette of the moment. A very, very short moment. The public voted with their wallets, declining to puff on cigarettes that marked them out as lonely. The launch bombed and Strand cigarettes were withdrawn in the mid-1960s.
To see the Strand that has lasted, click here to view the virtual tour.
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Tags: imperial tobacco, lonely man theme, never alone with a strand, strand, strand cigarettes, strand tobacco, wills tobacco