Marlboro, The “Marlboro Man” Story
July 15, 1955
When Marlboro decided to target their cigarettes towards men, the brand partnered with Leo Burnett, a Chicago based advertising agency, the initial Marlboro Man cowboy was born. Inspired by a photograph in Life magazine featuring Clarence Hailey Long, this ultimate American cowboy and masculine trademark was the first model to appear in Marlboro advertisements.
The Marlboro Man has had unprecedented success as a global marketing tool, selling Philip Morris’ brand since 1955. By 1972, Marlboro was the most popular cigarette brand and has held its position since. Even after the first article in Reader’s Digest linked lung cancer to smoking in 1957, the Marlboro man advertisements continued to sell, bringing in both new male and female smokers. Darrell Winfield became the face of the Marlboro in 1968, who was the ideal poster child for the rugged independent self-image of the brand.
Despite the cowboy’s appeal, the brand experimented with other manly types to sell its cigarette: ball players, racecar drivers and rugged guys with tattoos. Models dressed in leather or jeans with a cigarette in the corner of their mouths dominated the brand’s advertisements. The Marlboro Man proved that a tough cowboy and his horse were a simple, yet efficient way to sell a product and the most powerful mascot in American tobacco marketing history.