WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Revo, a cigarette from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. that primarily heats rather than burns tobacco, will be available statewide in Wisconsin as of Feb. 2, 2015, Reynolds American Inc. spokesperson Richard Smith told CSP Daily News.
"Revo is the same product as Eclipse, now with an updated look, name and marketing plan," he said. "Eclipse was first made widely available in 1994. We believe Eclipse was ahead of its time, given the changing expectations and interest in innovative tobacco products of today’s adult tobacco consumers."
The Revo cigarette offers less cigarette smoke smell, no ashes and real cigarette tobacco.
"Offering adult tobacco consumers a variety of tobacco products to consider reflects R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s commitment to driving innovation, which is part of the transforming tobacco vision of all Reynolds American Inc. operating companies," Smith said.
"Heat-not-burn technology was 20 years ahead of when consumers were ready for it. It needed the mass presence of vapor products to open up an experience-base that smokers understood," J. Brice O'Brien, head of consumer marketing for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based R.J. Reynolds, told the Associated Press in a separate report. "The smoker could only compare heat-not-burn to a combustible, and it lost every time. That's no longer the case."
The company is launching Revo with a marketing campaign that lets smokers know that it's different and harder to use than traditional cigarettes, but to "stick with it, because it's totally worth it," O'Brien said.
Revo will cost about the same as a premium pack of regular cigarettes, which varies across the country but averages close to $6.
Reynolds American, Winston-Salem, N.C., is the parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the second-largest U.S. tobacco company with brands including Camel, Pall Mall, Winston, Kool, Doral, Salem, Misty and Capri; American Snuff Co. LLC, the nation's second-largest manufacturer of smokeless tobacco products, with brands including Grizzly and Kodiak; Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. Inc., which manufactures and markets Natural American Spirit 100% additive-free natural tobacco products; Niconovum USA Inc.; Niconovum AB, which market nicotine replacement therapy products in the United States and Sweden, respectively, under the Zonnic brand; and R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., which makes and markets Vuse e-cigarettes.
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