In the early 1950s, Philip Morris (now Altria) wanted to transform the image of its Malboro brand filtered cigarettes, which had been advertised as women's smokes since 1924.
Phillip Morris hired Burnett, a former reporter who started his own Chicago agency in 1935, to take on the task of giving Marlboro a rough and tough image. And what could be more masculine than a cowboy?
Apparently, America agreed. In 1955, the year the Marlboro Man campaign debuted, sales of Malboro hit $5 billion -- a 3,241% increase over 1954's sales.
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