LOS ANGELES Eric Lawson, who portrayed the rugged Marlboro man in cigarette ads during the late 1970s, has died. He was 72.
Lawson died Jan. 10 at his home in San Luis Obispo of respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, his wife, Susan Lawson said Sunday.
Lawson was an actor with bit parts on such TV shows as Baretta and The Streets of San Francisco when he was hired to appear in print Marlboro ads from 1978 to 1981. His other credits include Charlie s Angels, Dynasty and Baywatch. His wife said injuries sustained on the set of a Western film ended his career in 1997.
A smoker since age 14, Lawson later appeared in an anti smoking commercial that parodied the Marlboro man and an Entertainment Tonight segment to discuss the negative effects of smoking. Susan said her husband was proud of the interview, even though he was smoking at the time and continued the habit until he was diagnosed with COPD.
He knew the cigarettes had a hold on him, she said. He knew, yet he still couldn t stop.
A few actors and models who pitched Marlboro brand cigarettes have died of smoking related diseases. They include David Millar, who died of emphysema in 1987, and David McLean, who died of lung cancer in 1995.
Lawson was also survived by six children, 18 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
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Qr codes and cigarettes
Smoking is a very bad bad bad habit. Unfortunately, some people pick up this extremely bad habit and unfortuanately cigarette companies are using QR codes as one of their marketing techniques too. I guess you can t hate on companies that are making money and know to do it right.
So the only reason why I even thought cigarette companies are using QR codes is because I was with my friend the other day, and she had bought a pack of cigarettes. She bought a pack of Marlboros. Marlboro menthols to be the outside of the plastic of the box, there was a QR code on it. Another flavor of Marlboro is also providing QR codes on a little slip inside the pack of cigarettes. Marlboro is using QR codes to help consumers sign up for events and offers quicker. Like I said earlier, I guess you can t complain about it. If you are a business, and you want to increase your sales, or promote an item QR codes are the way to go.
Some cigarettes packs are even providing information on where a smoker can smoke. Once scanned, it brings the smoker to an updated map that shows where the smoker is and where there are available smoking areas.
Now, I m not going to lie, that s a pretty cool nifty idea for using a QR code. I think that taking the GPS location of a smoker and incorporating that with the QR code is brilliant!
Click here for the article I just got that information from.
Here is a screen shot photo of a pack of Marlboro menthol lights with a QR code on the side of the box. It seems to be a pack of cigarettes from possibly Japan? I’m not quite sure because I don’t speak any asian is just an assumption.