Lucky Strike in 1942
The brand's signature dark green pack was changed to white in 1942. In
a famous advertising campaign that used the slogan "Lucky Strike Green
has gone to war", the company claimed the change was made because the
copper used in the green color was needed for World War II. American
Tobacco actually used chromium to produce the green ink, and copper to
produce the gold-colored trim. A limited supply of each was available,
and substitute materials made the package look drab. However, the truth
of the matter was that the white of Lucky Strike cigarettes package was introduced to update the
label and to increase the appeal of the package among female smokers;
market studies showed that the green package was not found attractive
to women smokers who had become an important consumer of tobacco
products. The war effort became a convenient way to make the product
more viable while appearing as devoted at the same time.
