Zig-Zag (company)
Brand of cigarette rolling papers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zig-Zag is a brand of rolling papers that originated in France. The Zig-Zag brand produces primarily hand-rolled tobacco-related products such as cigarette rolling papers, cigarette tubes and rolling accessories.
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- Rolling papers
- Food, Beverage, Tobacco
- Manufacturing
Jacques Braunstein
 | |
| Industry |
|
|---|---|
| Founded | 1855 |
| Founder | Maurice Braunstein Jacques Braunstein |
| Headquarters | France |
| Website | zigzag |
History
The company was founded in 1855 by Maurice and Jacques Braunstein. Based in Paris, in 1882 the company built the Papeterie de Gassicourt, a cigarette paper production plant near the town of Mantes-la-Jolie. In 1894, they invented the process of "interleaving" rolling papers. They called their papers Zig-Zag after the zigzag alternating packaging process.[1] In 1900, Zig-Zag was awarded a gold medal at the Universal Exposition in Paris.[citation needed]
Success led to expansion in 1919 to a new mill in Thonon-les-Bains. During World War II, the company's original facility in Mantes-la-Jolie was destroyed and at war's end, all production was shifted to the Thonon factory.[citation needed]
With the death of Jacques Braunstein, in the 1950s Zig-Zag was sold to a partnership of the Group Bolloré and competitor JOB. In 2000, Zig-Zag became part of Republic Technologies of which Group Bolloré owns 19 percent.[citation needed]
American company Turning Point Brands, Inc. acquired North American distribution rights for Zig Zag products in 1997.[citation needed] In 2021, Zig Zag and Turning Point announced they would be collaborating and launching a studio, Zig Zag Studios.[2]
Marketing
The "Zig-zag man"
The zouave soldier portrayed on the front of Zig-Zag products is colloquially known as the "Zig-Zag man". The choice of a member of this French North African regiment as a Zig-Zag icon originates from a folk story about an incident in the battle of Sevastopol. When the soldier's clay pipe was destroyed by a bullet, he attempted to roll his tobacco using a piece of paper torn from a musket cartridge.[3]
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In popular culture
- Zig-Zag rolling papers went on to inspire the single cover of We Want Eazy by Eazy-E[citation needed]
- Zig-Zag rolling papers went on to inspire the album cover for The Chronic by Dr. Dre.[4]
- Referenced in chorus of the Afroman song Crazy Rap[citation needed]