Marlboro cigarettes are one of the most famous cigarette brands in the world thanks to a powerful advertising campaign and significant sponsorship investments in motorsport (in particular, financial support since 1997 from the Ferrari Formula 1 team). Produced by Philip Morris International.
«Marlboro» (Marlboro) was born in 1924 as the first ladies’ cigarettes. In the old days, the very idea of selling cigarettes to women was considered seditious, just as today it is to sell cigarettes to eight-year-old children. But with the advent of suffragettes (women fighters for universal suffrage) in the 1920s, the issue of equality came to the fore — women wished to have the same vile habits as men (the Marlboro cigarettes as well).
Nevertheless, this venture was risky from a trade point of view. Advertising specialists went out of their way, trying to prove that although smoking leads to yellowing of teeth, a bad smell, irreversible addiction, not to mention the appearance of a severe dry cough in the morning, but still smoking ladies remain feminine and gentle. Philip Morris decided that his brand of cigarettes should have a classic and noble name. At that time, Winston Churchill was very popular. It was said that he was related to the Earl of Marlboro cigarettes. Businessmen liked the sound of the word «Marlboro», but did not like its spelling — Marlboro. Then they just removed the «extra» letters from the end of the word and put it in a modified form of the pack.
In 1955, the agency decided to add a trademark tattoo to the cowboy’s arm. One of the sitters recalled later that before filming he was made up for three minutes, and the tattoo was applied for three hours. In 1962, Burnett’s agency purchased the rights to the script for The Magnificent Seven and added the words for a TV commercial: «Come where the true flavor of America is, come to Marlboro country!»
Since then, the «Marlboro Man» has taken a firm place among the most successful advertising images, and Marlboro cigarettes have been at the top of the most sold out for many years. When the government banned tobacco advertising in 1971, the cowboy switched to advertising other products — after all, he never said anything. He continued to gaze into the distance with the expression of a confident superman, which is the expression most typical of smokers when they are silent.