YO cigarettes, 1994–1995
In 1994 the Finnish tobacco company Rettig was worried. Cigarette sales were going down, and the legal age limit for smoking was about to be raised from 16 to 18 the following year. This would most certainly be effecting sales even further.
Clearly something had to be done.
Rettig decided now was the time to seriously target the youth market, and YO cigarettes were born.
With artists like Snoop Dogg, Notorious B.I.G and Nas dominating the charts, the marketing people at Rettig had noticed this thing called “hip hop” was clearly something that appealed to the kids. They therefore quickly created their own version of what was supposed to represent “cool graffiti” packaging (designed by Tapsa Rantanen?).
It’s worth noticing that the packets contained 18 cigarettes instead of the usual 20, thus keeping the price at a more child friendly level.
Sadly the boring Finnish authorities disagreed with this marketing tactic, and the packaging had to be replaced with a more toned down version within a few months. The new sober look wasn’t a big seller, and YO cigarettes were discontinued in 1995.
The following year Nas released the track Can’t forget about you.
Coincidence?
We think not.
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