History of Marlboro Cigarettes

In the 1920s, Marlboro was first advertised as a premium cigarette for women, a milder version of the smokes well dressed men might puff on after dinner. But the brand never took hold, and by the 1950s concerns over the connection between smoking and cancer drove many smokers to filtered brands. Philip Morris didn't have a filtered cigarette, so it scrapped the old campaign in favor of re-launching Marlboro as the company's filtered alternative.

After deciding to introduce filters to the brand, Marlboro executives still had the brand's feminine image to deal with. As Schalch reports, it didn't help that filtered cigarettes were considered softer versions of the real thing, cigarettes for sissies.

The first Marlboro men weren't limited to cowboys. They were all sorts of rugged individuals who smoked their cigarettes while performing equally manly tasks, from fixing their cars to fishing or hunting.

Marlboro's television advertisements in the '60s reflected the idea of freedom in wide-open spaces, especially once the theme from the movie The Magnificent Seven was added to the scenes of cowboys leading their herds through dusty canyons of "Marlboro Country" or charging off to rein in a stray colt.

Part of the success of the campaign might be attributable to the fact that Marlboro forged some credibility by using real cowboys in some of the ads instead of actors just playing the part.

The image took hold with enough force that even through a ban on televised tobacco advertisements that began in 1971, the Marlboro Man survived unharmed. Instead of riding off into the sunset, the image turned up in print ads and on billboards all over the country.