RICHMOND — Reynolds American Inc. is launching a revamped Vuse electronic cigarette in Colorado — promising the ‘‘perfect puff’’ — and has its sights set on expanding nationally.
It’s another push by a tobacco giant into the fast-growing business. The traditional cigarette business has become tougher in the face of tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns, and social stigma.
The company, which sells Camel, Pall Mall, and Natural American Spirit cigarettes, did not disclose the size of the Colorado retail distribution set to begin in July or a timeline for a national rollout.
The launch will include an advertising campaign, which will include spots on TV — a place where tobacco companies have been prohibited from marketing cigarettes.
Electronic cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution, creating vapor that users inhale.
Some are made to look like a real cigarette with a tiny light on the tip that glows.
Devotees call them a way to break addiction to real cigarettes, without the 4,000 or so chemicals found in cigarettes.
Reynolds believes its updated e-cigarette ‘‘delivers on what smokers want’’ by addressing taste and performance issues that in the past have held back sales.