The Chesterfield Leper

Someone claimed that a leper had been found working in the production area and people fled the brand in droves. Liggett and Myers, the owners of the plant, denied the rumor, even going so far as to offer a $25,000 reward for evidence leading to the identification of the perpetrators of the hoax. Another rumor began, with people claiming the leprosy story was invented by a competitor, or a religious group which was opposed to smoking (that one was most likely a hoax as well). The source of the rumor was never revealed and the effects of the story were felt for over a decade, with sales extremely slow to recover.