Natural American Spirit

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A package of Natural American Spirit cigarettes

Natural American Spirit is a brand of cigarette and tobacco products manufactured in the United States by the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company. The company was founded in 1982, but in 2002 was acquired by Reynolds American and is now an independent subsidiary.

Their products are marketed as being "100% Additive-Free Tobacco", though the company makes no claims that they are less hazardous than other cigarettes and openly dissuades others from taking up smoking.

1 Varieties
2 Marketing
3 Miscellaneous
4 In Popular Culture
5 Known Smokers
6 External links

[edit] Varieties

In the United States, there are currently ten varieties of Natural American Spirit cigarettes on the market. They can be distinguished by the variety of colors used in packaging:

Type	Package Color
Non-Filter	Tan
Regular Filter	Blue
Medium Filter	Pale Green (Celadon)
Light Filter	Yellow
Ultra Light Filter	Yellow and White
Menthol Filter	Green
Menthol Light Filter	Green and White
Organic Regular Filter	Maroon
Organic Light Filter	Gold
Perique	Black

The company also produces four varieties of roll-your-own tobacco products:

Type	Package Color
Original Blend	Blue
U.S. Grown	Royal Blue
Organic Blend	Maroon
Pow-Wow Blend*	Purple

* In addition to tobacco, Pow-Wow Blend contains the herbs sage, red willow, bearberry and spearmint.

Certain Natural American Spirit products are also sold in several European countries, Australia and Japan.

[edit] Marketing

Natural American Spirit advertises that their tobacco products contain only whole-leaf tobacco without any additives. The company's website informs smokers that although most cigarette manufacturers use reconstituted sheet tobacco as a cost-cutting measure, their cigarettes contain no sheet tobacco, nor processed stems. Also, the company claims that they don't test any of their products on animals, and they purportedly donate a portion of their revenues to Native American charities. This, however, makes Natural American Spirit one of the more expensive, premium brands.

[edit] Miscellaneous

According to study by Oregon Health & Science University's James Pankow, up to 36% of total nicotine content in an American Spirit cigarette may be "free-base nicotine" [1]. This form of nicotine gasifies more easily, which is believed to allow it to be absorbed into the bloodstream via the lungs more quickly. Santa Fe Natural Tobacco company denies the allegations that they add free-base nicotine to their cigarettes during processing.
The logo uses the typeface Neuland Inline.

[edit] In Popular Culture

They are supposedly singer/songwriter Ryan Adams' favorite brand of cigarette. He has been quoted as saying "they’re great, they don’t have any pesticides or chemicals in them, and part of the money you pay for them goes to Native American charities.” They are also frequently seen on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show and are used by Dave Attell on Comedy Central's Insomniac.