The brand was founded in 1961 and was sold in a traditional red pack with a saxophone emitting music until 1979, when the design was overhauled and the pack design was changed to dark green.

The brand was originally owned by the "Monopolio di Stato" or State Monopoly in English, until the Ente Tabacchi Italiani company was founded in 1998 and took over all manufacturing.

After ETI got taken over by British American Tobacco and became BAT Italia, the company is responsible for production of the brand.

[9] In June 2010, it was reported that 3.5 million Italian smokers demanded compensation from BAT Italia due to the increasement of the addictiveness of their cigarettes and not eliminating the nicotine in their cigarettes.

The compensation that every person can claim is €3000 and the brands in question are MS, Alfa, Bis, Brera, Colombo, Cortina, Esportazione, Eura, HB, Kent, Lido, MS Club, Mundial, Nazionale, Nazionali, N80, Rothmans, SAX Musical, St. Moritz, Stop, Super, Zenit, Vogue, Dunhill, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall.