Marlboro is the most world-wide known cigarette brand made by Altria Group, Inc., previously named Philip Morris Companies Inc. Philip Morris Companies Inc. changed its name to Altria Group, Inc. on January 27, 2003. Originally Marlboro was exposed in 1847 at the London market but soon repositioned in the US. The greatest tobacco products' brand is named after Great Marlborough Street where its original London factory was situated.
The history of Marlboro cigarettes offers insight into one of the great advertising and marketing success stories of the 20th century. An English brand, Marlboro cigarettes were marketed from the Victorian era through the first half of this century as a women's cigarette, with tag-lines that aimed to appeal to female smokers, such as "Marlboro - Mild As May." One of the traits of Marlboro cigarettes at that period was a red tip, which conscealed women's lipstick marks.
This approach was successful until World War II (1939-45), when slow sales caused Marlboro packs to be withdrawn from the market. The cigarettes were revived in the 1950s, as the first medical research linking cigarette smoking with cancer began to reach the public. It was thought that Marlboro cigarettes, with their filter, might offer smokers the illusion of a reduced health risk. However, the filter was regarded as effeminate by many men, who made up the bulk of the market.
In 1954, the Leo Burnett Company, a Chicago advertising agency, was given the task of making Marlboro cigarettes appealing to men. The result was the "tattooed man" campaign. It involved a series of print ads showing a man with a tattoo on his hand holding a Marlboro. The man would be one of several "manly" types, such as a policeman, a firefighter, a construction worker or a cowboy. The agency studied consumer response, and the cowboy figure proved to be the most popular. By 1957, the cowboy had replaced all of the others.
This approach was successful until World War II (1939-45), when slow sales caused Marlboro packs to be withdrawn from the market. The cigarettes were revived in the 1950s, as the first medical research linking cigarette smoking with cancer began to reach the public. It was thought that Marlboro cigarettes, with their filter, might offer smokers the illusion of a reduced health risk. However, the filter was regarded as effeminate by many men, who made up the bulk of the market.
In 1954, the Leo Burnett Company, a Chicago advertising agency, was given the task of making Marlboro cigarettes appealing to men. The result was the "tattooed man" campaign. It involved a series of print ads showing a man with a tattoo on his hand holding a Marlboro. The man would be one of several "manly" types, such as a policeman, a firefighter, a construction worker or a cowboy. The agency studied consumer response, and the cowboy figure proved to be the most popular. By 1957, the cowboy had replaced all of the others.
