Next

Next is a brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris International. The original acronym for Next was a reference to "nicotine extracted". History The brand was launched in 1989 by Philip Morris USA as a "low-nicotine" brand in the United States they dubbed as "de-nic". The company claimed that Next was better than other low-nicotine varieties because its taste was indistinguishable from regular cigarettes. The nicotine was removed from the cigarettes using high-pressure carbon dioxide in a process similar to the method used by coffee companies when making decaffeinated coffee. Test marketing began in July 1989, around the time of the release of the Surgeon General's report on nicotine addiction, in three markets (Omaha, Hartford and Toledo). Philip Morris USA spent tens of millions of Dollars developing the product, but it never received any credible third-party endorsement. Instead, public health groups criticised the product because it actually had higher tar levels than many other cigarette brands, and that heavy smokers would simply smoke more Next cigarettes to give their bodies the nicotine they crave. They also petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to regulate it as a drug delivery device. Eventually, the brand became a marketing failure once the test results proved to be disappointing due to poor sales (less than 0.2 market share) and Philip Morris stopped producing them in late 1989. Additional test marketing of Next was conducted by Philip Morris in Tampa in May 1990, but the results were still poor and the product was pulled off the market once again.