Marlboro (cigarette)
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Marlboro is a brand of cigarette made by Philip Morris. It is famous for its billboard advertisements of the Marlboro Man. It is currently the best selling cigarette brand in the world.[[Citing sources citation needed]]
Philip Morris, a London-based cigarette manufacturer, created a New York subsidiary in 1902 to sell several of its cigarette brands, including Marlboro. By 1924 they were advertising Marlboro as a woman's cigarette based on the slogan "Mild As May".
The brand was sold in this capacity until World War II when the brand faltered and was temporarily removed from the market. At the end of the war, three brands: Camel, Lucky Strike, and Chesterfield surfaced and established a firm hold on the cigarette market. However, the 1950s saw an impressive comeback of Marlboro cigarettes when a new cowboy image was introduced in promotion and the sales skyrocketed by 5000%.
During the same era Reader's Digest magazine published a series of articles that linked smoking with lung cancer. Philip Morris, and the other cigarette companies took notice and each began to market filtered cigarettes. The new Marlboro with a filtered tip was launched in 1955.
The brand is named after Great Marlborough Street, the location of its original London factory.
Criticisms and allegations against Philip Morris-Altria
Many activists criticize Altria group simply for being in the business of selling cigarettes, since smoking is linked to a variety of serious illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, emphysema, and lung and other human cancers. These activists liken the sale of addictive cigarettes to illegal addictive substances like cocaine or heroin. Anti-smoking activists also allege that the tobacco industry, including Philip Morris, actively markets cigarettes to children, and has in the past has conspired to hide the dangers of smoking from the public. See (The Insider) (See Michael Moore and The Awful Truth tv show).In response, Altria's position is that cigarettes are a highly-taxed and highly regulated legal product whose sale is restricted to adults, and whose marketing is tighly overseen by the Federal Trade Commission and by consent agreement with the States (the Master Settlement Agreement of 1998) in the United States. The dangers of smoking have been widely known for generations, and warning labels acknowledging the risks of smoking have appeared on every pack of cigarettes sold in the United States since 1964. As such, Altria views smoking as an issue of personal adult choice, and Altria as a corporation has largely supported government oversight and regulation of tobacco. Contrary to popular belief, Altria/Philip Morris does not deny a link between actively smoking cigarettes and cancer or other human disease:
From PMUSA's website [link] Philip Morris USA agrees with the overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and other serious diseases in smokers. Smokers are far more likely to develop serious diseases, like lung cancer, than non-smokers. There is no safe cigarette.
Philip Morris has also been criticized for changing the name of its parent holding company to "Altria Group", allegedly to whitewash its involvement with tobacco. In response, Altria claims that the name Philip Morris used simultaneously for the holding company and for two of its subsidiaries was the source of tremendous internal and external confusion. No attempt has been made to hide the heritage of the cigarette businesses, as the names of the two units that manufacture and market the cigarettes are still Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris international, respectively.
Varieties
- Reds (Full Flavor): Kings, 100s and 72 mm box
- Medium: Kings and 100s
- Lights: Kings, 100s, and 72 mm box (marketed as Marlboro Gold in the EU)
- Ultra Lights: Kings and 100s (marketed as Marlboro Silver in the EU)
- Menthol: Kings,100s, and 72 mm box
- Menthol Lights: Kings and 100s
- Menthol Ultra Lights: Kings and 100s
- Menthol Milds: Kings,100s, and 72 mm box
- UltraSmooth: Kings
- Blend No. 27
- Marlboro Blend 28
Miscellaneous
- A recent case study (2002) by research analysts of the tobacco industry has concluded that Marlboro is currently the top selling cigarette brand for caucasian smokers.
- In Canada, only locally produced Marlboro red cigarettes (from Imperial Tobacco) are available. Marlboro Lights are nonexistent. Canadians rarely smoke American Cigarettes, preferring lighter yet more nicotine laden local Virginia tobacco brands.
- Marlboro cigarettes burn an estimated 25% faster than other top-selling premium brands such as Camel, Winston, Dunhill, and Player's. Philip Morris uses re-constituted sheet tobacco and processed stems as well as chemicals such as formaldehyde and ammonia to fill the cigarettes. All of the above are reasons for Marlboro burning more rapidly.
- In the 1980s an urban myth spread throughout the United States and even Europe, that Marlboro packaging carried imagery related to the Ku Klux Klan. The myth held that the Klan owned all, or a major part of, the Philip Morris company, and that Philip Morris himself was involved with the organisation. These allegations are unfounded - indeed to own even 1% of the company would require over $500 m, and Philip Morris was a British tobacco merchant.
- A similar urban legend alleged that the compounds used in mentholated cigarettes were specially formulated to render black people impotent. Since Marlboro Menthol Lights are, by one estimate, the most popular brand of cigarette among African-Americans, this caused quite a stir. However, it has been well established that cigarette smoking itself, rather than the menthol that may be in those cigarettes, is responsible for inhibiting male sexual performance regardless of race.
Trivia
- The width of the diagonal lines of the Marlboro "shape" on cigarette packs is exactly equal to the width of a standard book of matches
Advertising campaigns
"Mild as May" is the advertising campaign used by Marlboro cigarettes before they added a filtered tip to their product. The product was endorsed by Mae West and marketed towards women.One of the features of Marlboro cigarettes at the time was a red tip, which hid lipstick marks that women would leave while smoking.
This campaign was dropped in favor of a more masculine Marlboro Man campaign.
In the early 1960s Philip Morris (with advertising director Thomas Hutzler) invented "Marlboro Country" and distilled their manly imagery into a rugged cowboy known as the "Marlboro Man." Marlboro quickly gained market share and saw their sales increase 5,000% within 8 months of the ad campaign's premiere.
Through the years, Marlboro ad campaigns have been represented by reddish colors, American Western landscapes and a rugged cowboy. These three elements, either combined or separate, are well recognizable and known as Marlboro Country, even without mentioning the brand name or slogan. The image embodied by the Marlboro ad campaign has become an immediately and universally recognizable icon embodying an idealized and appealing American lifestyle.
As a tie-in to the new "Marlboro Man" advertising campaign, Philip Morris began including "Marlboro Miles" above the barcode on each pack of Marlboro cigarettes. These Miles could be redeemed via a mail-order catalog for a variety of merchandise emblazoned with the Marlboro brand and logo, running the gamut from cooking implements and camping gear to apparel and lighters. This promotion--similar to the "C-note" redemption system for coupons found on packs of Camel cigarettes--was phased out in 2006. Packs of Marlboro cigarettes manufactured after April 2006 no longer provide Marlboro Miles, although existing Miles may be redeemed through September 2006.
Marlboro is also well known for its sponsorship of motor racing. The Penske cars in the IRL Indycar series currently run in Marlboro's distinctive red and white colors. Marlboro sponsorship in Indycars dates back to 1986. In 2006, a Marlboro-sponsored car won the Indianapolis 500 for the eighth time. In Formula One, Marlboro now sponsors Ferrari, but for many years was the backer of McLaren. Various drivers have also been affiliated with the brand in the past, including Jenson Button, who received some funding during his Formula 3 campaign of 1999. The Peugeot World Rally team has also run with the iconic Marlboro livery.
Currently special "racing editions" of 20 Marlboro red are being sold in the Uk, with a Ferrari design.
See also
External links
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