Saturday, September 24, 2011

Saturday Smoking Lounge: Come To Marlboro Country


Anyone who was old enough to sit in front of the boob tube in the 60s certainly remembers the Marlboro Man TV commercials.

With the stirring Western theme (it was the musical score for the classically great movie, The Magnificent 7) and the Marlboro Man with his chiseled masculine features, they were as much a part of the 60s TV landscape as Andy Griffith or the Beverly Hillbillies.

More than anything, the Marlboro Man ads were responsible for propelling Marlboro from an also-ran brand in the 50s to the #1 worldwide best seller.

"Boros" as we called them, were this writer's constant companion through the first two years of undergraduate education (we could even smoke in lecture halls and in discussion rooms), before they were replaced by Camel straights, with their higher quality Turkish tobaccos.

Take a trip down memory lane with this 1963 black and white video of the softer-themed version of the Marlboro Man TV commercial:

(you have to adjust the video down to 240p to get this to run)

3 comments:

  1. There's my brand! LOL Although I wasn't a "red" girl, I did smoke Marlboro's for almost the entire time I smoked. Reds were the 1st ones I tried though.

    I don't remember this commercial - just a hair before my time, but I do remember seeing commercials on TV when I was really little, and the billboard ads.

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  2. Actually I find this commercial strangely calming and happy. I wonder if it is true what they said about subliminal messages being in ads back then.

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    1. Or maybe it's just the calming effect of subconciously being tranported back to a simpler, happier time of life.

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Comments invited, however anonymous commentors had better deal directly with the issues raised and avoid ad hominem drivel. As for Teachers' Union seminar writers -- forget about it.