Synopsis
This 1969 color “puff piece” on the history of the Marlboro cigarette brand chronicles the origins of one of history's greatest ad campaigns. Made as a brag piece, the film also illustrates how the Philip Morris Corporation preyed on consumers during the 50s and 60s by shifting their branding and advertising approaches to suggest hazy links between tobacco use and masculinity. The faces of the businessmen behind the brand’s “cowboy” image are revealed in promotional interviews (TRT: 25:04). Horses in silhouette at sunset. A “cowboy” lights up. Narration: “This is the story of a cigarette… and how a sort of faceless, sissified little brand became America’s fastest-growing cigarette” (0:08). Title: “The Marlboro Story” (0:43). Closeup on a smoking “feminine” package of Marlboro cigarettes circa 1954. Rack focus to reveal modern flip-top boxes of filtered “reds” (0:52). Advertising executive Leo Burnett smokes during an office interview, with multiple packs of Marlboros on his desk. He explains his original “cowboy” concept, a “masculine image” copied from a book (1:13). Burnett waxes nostalgic about advertising copy (3:55). An early ad with a “Marlboro man” (4:29). Title: “The Marlboro Man” over a plane landing on a runway in black and white. The pilot deplanes and opens a pack of Marlboros with a propeller-tattooed hand. A man on horseback does the same, also with a tattooed hand (5:24). Crossfade to color footage of cigarettes rolling off a production line. Cartons on a…
Uploader's description on archive.org
Details
- Running time
- 25 minutes
- Collection
- Ephemeral Films
Subjects on the Internet Archive
- Marlboro Story
- 1969
- Big Tobacco
- Leo Burnett
- Stock Footage
- Periscope Film
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★ · Shameless Propaganda Even Back in the 70's · Postosuchus · 2023-03-19
The most difficult part of watching this is the way that Leo Burnett talks during the first interview. The rest is an informative story about how a hazardous product that didn't appeal to men was successfully marketed with a macho image, jingle and new package design.