The cigarette was originally made with a darker or brun (brown) tobacco, in contrast to the more widespread blonde.

This was mainly due to the rise on tobacco levies imposed by the French Government in the wake of enforced EU health directives, which has forced up the price of French cigarettes to the level of those in the US, with the more aggressively promoted brands such as Marlboro now taking the majority market share.

In an effort to increase awareness, the brand began sponsoring motor-sports such as Formula One racing and the Dakar Rally.

[1] In July 2016, the French government considered a ban on both the Gitanes and Gauloises 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.

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.

Prost GP, despite substantial financial backing by large private French companies, failed to make the team competitive and went bankrupt in 2002.

The Cosworth-powered JS1 took wins at Albi and Montlhéry in 1970, but retired at Le Mans and from the Tour Automobile de France.

Gitanes also sponsored various teams in the Dakar Rally from its first season in 1979 until tobacco sponsorship was banned by the French government.

[17][21][22][23] In the 1958 French film Ascenseur pour l'échafaud the character Julien Tavernier, played by Maurice Ronet, smokes Gitanes in several scenes.

[24] In the 1981 French thriller Diva, the protagonist, Jules, is befriended by a mysterious bohemian, Gorodish, who almost constantly smokes Gitaines.

[27] The brand is mentioned in the song "Late Bloomer" from the album The Voyager by Jenny Lewis: "She was smoking on a gypsy.

[citation needed] The character Giles Talbot in Kate Quinn's "The Rose Code" smoked Gitanes.