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Gauloises (, "" feminine in French; cigarette is a feminine noun in French) is a brand of cigarette of France origin. It is produced by the company Imperial Tobacco following its acquisition of Altadis in January 2008 in most countries, but produced and sold by Reemtsma in Germany. Until 2017 the cigarette was manufactured at a plant in Riom, Puy-de-Dôme, in France, but they are now manufactured in Poland.
Since 2018, Gauloises cigarettes have been produced in Poland after the last manufacturing plant in Riom, Puy-de-Dôme closed its doors in the end of 2017.
Between the World Wars, the smoking of Gauloises in France was considered patriotic and an affiliation with French "heartland" values. The brand was associated with the cigarette-smoking poilu (a slang term for the French in the trenches) and the resistance fighters during the Vichy Regime. Their slogan was " Liberté toujours ("Freedom forever"). In 1939–1940, some packets of cigarettes were given a distinctive "troop brand".
In March 1954, SEITA launched the "Gauloise Disque Bleu" brand, with CEO Pierre Grimanelli proud of the new packaging that would, he argued, increase sales.
The brand was also linked to high-status and inspirational figures representing the worlds of art (e.g. Pablo Picasso) and the intellectual elite (e.g. Jean-Paul Sartre, "France fumes over Gauloises move", CNN, 1 September 2005 Albert Camus and Jean BaudrillardHorrocks, Chris. Introducing Baudrillard. Icon Books, 1996.). In popular music, for example French pianist and composer Maurice Ravel, American singer Jim Morrison and British music icon John Lennon.
American artist Robert Motherwell used Gauloises packets and cartons in many collages, including an extensive series with the packets surrounded by bright red acrylic paint, often with incised lines in the painted areas. In the introduction to his 2015 book Robert Motherwell: The Making of an American Giant, gallery owner Bernard Jacobson says, "Motherwell smoked , but in his collage life he smokes Gauloises, around whose blue packets he now organises one composition after another, 'exotic to me precisely because in the normal course of things I don't smoke French cigarettes'." And by incorporating Gauloises packets he makes deft and condensed allusion to "French blue": to the Mediterranean and the palette of Matisse ... to the smoke coiling up in a Cubist assemblage."
Henri Charrière, French author and convict, repeatedly references the smoking of Gauloises in his autobiography Papillon. This, together with the romantic associations of France, made Gauloises a popular brand among some writers and artists: in practically every story and novel written by Julio Cortázar set in Paris, the protagonists smoke Gauloises. John Lennon was a noted smoker of Gauloises Bleues. Frank O'Hara in his poem "The Day Lady Died" writes of going to "the tobacconist in the Ziegfeld Theatre" in New York and casually asking "for a carton of Gauloises." In John le Carré's 1979 novel Smiley's People a key plot point involves the concealment of a microfilm in a packet of Gauloises, which are Vladimir's favourite. Anne Rice, writing as Anne Rampling in her 1986 novel Belinda, also made Gauloises the favored choice of cigarette for her title character/protagonist. Smoking Gauloises is mentioned in the teen television series Gossip Girl. Sergeant Mort Cooperman smokes Gauloises in several mystery novels by Kinky Friedman. Greenwich Killing Time, et al.
Smoking Gauloises was also promoted as a contribution to the national good: a portion of the profits from their sale was paid to the Régie Française des Tabacs, a semi-governmental corporation charged with controlling the use of tobacco, especially by minors, and directing its profits towards socially beneficial causes. The designers of the traditional Gauloise packet reinforced national identity by selecting a peculiarly French shade of blue (like the blues later used in the work of French artist Yves Klein).
John Frusciante, guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, smoked Gauloises, as noted in the book Scar Tissue by friend and bandmate Anthony Kiedis. During his time at Marlborough College in the early 1960s English singer-songwriter Nick Drake would enjoy smoking Disque Bleu cigarettes with his friend Jeremy Mason, in the High Street of the town.
The last factory producing Gauloises, in Lille, closed in 2005.
In July 2016, the French government considered a ban on both the Gauloises and Gitanes cigarette brands because they were deemed "too stylish and cool". The ban would also apply to brands including Marlboro Gold, Vogue, Lucky Strike and Fortuna. It is the result of a new public health law based on a European directive that says tobacco products "must not include any element that contributes to the promotion of tobacco or give an erroneous impression of certain characteristics". Four major tobacco companies have written to the government seeking clarification on the potential law, calling for an urgent meeting to discuss the details of the plan. In the letter they accuse French health minister Marisol Touraine of an "arbitrary and disproportionate" application of EU directives.
On 30 October 2007 the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation ruled against SEITA, accusing it of having signed a partnership agreement with the organisers of the 2000–2002 Francofolies Festivals for the use of visual brand elements of Gauloises Blondes.
Gauloises is no longer available in the United Kingdom or in Russia.
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