Gunston (cigarette)
Gunston is a South African brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the South African subsidiary of conglomerate British American Tobacco. History Gunston was established in the 1950s by the Winston Tobacco Company in South Africa. It enjoyed significant popularity in the South African market until its sales began to decrease, with consumers increasingly favoring other brands like Peter Stuyvesant and Marlboro. On April 28, 1972, a trademark request for the phrase "Gunston cigarettes" was submitted and subsequently approved on June 19, 1973. This trademark remained valid until June 19, 2004. In December 1999, the Independent Online reported that Gunston, along with brands like John Player International, Camel Plain, and Gitanes, faced the possibility of being banned if the manufacturers did not reduce the tar content in these brands. Manufacturers were given a three-month window to comply with the new regulations, and they did so. These regulations were aligned with the 1999 recommendations from the World Health Organization, which set a maximum limit of 15 mg of tar and 1.5 mg of nicotine in cigarettes. It was also planned to further reduce these limits to 12 mg of tar and 1.2 mg of nicotine after two or three years.