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"Mild as May" was the advertising campaign used by Marlboro brand before they added a filtered tip to their product. The product was endorsed by Mae West and marketed towards women.
"Marlboro Miles" on three packs of Marlboro Menthol Lights, oldest to newest. When the program was discontinued in 2006, the packs were redesigned as well (at right).
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." Television commercials included Elmer Bernstein's theme for the classic western "The Magnificent Seven." 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. The redemption campaigns were referred to at various times as "Marlboro Country Store" and "Marlboro Gear".
In the US Outwit the West is an annual promotional competition first run in 2004. It is a targeted campaign to selected adults on the Marlboro mailing list. Four-member teams receive 100 questions which are cryptic clues to locations in the American West. The 20 teams who submit the largest number of correct answers by the deadline (December 18, 2006 for Outwit the West 3) win a trip to the Marlboro Ranch. Once at the ranch, the top group is revealed and awarded the $1,000,000 prize. The campaign aims to build a brand community.
