Embassy (cigarette)

Embassy

An old tin box of Embassy cigarettes
Product type	Cigarette
Produced by	Imperial Tobacco
Introduced	1914; 103 years ago (1914)

Embassy is a brand of cigarettes from Imperial Tobacco. First sold in 1914 and relaunched as a coupon brand in 1962, in 1976 they were invited to sponsor the World Snooker Championships, which they did from then until 2005 at which time they had to pull out due to the UK government's ban on tobacco sponsorship.

When the Embassy brand was launched, more effort was put into developing and launching it than any other previous cigarette brand.

Embassy Filter was introduced in 1962 and, by the late 1960s, was the most popular brand of cigarette in the UK, taking 24% of the market in 1968.

In 2001, Embassy No. 1 had a 3.1% share of the UK licit cigarette market, and an estimated 4.8% share of the illicit market (based on seizures). In 2004, Embassy accounted for 24% of the premium segment of the UK market.

Two-time snooker world champion Alex Higgins sued the makers of Embassy in 1999, claiming that the encouragement from the sponsors to smoke Embassy cigarettes, and the free cigarettes given to players, had contributed to his contracting throat cancer.

Embassy is currently one of the most expensive cigarette brands in the UK with prices ranging from £9.50–£10.10 per pack of 20, it also has a sister brand, named Embassy Regal.