![]() Much of this smoking women culture was based around products marketed as smooth and mild, with filter cigarettes like Marlboro among them.Įven more tobacco advertising would feature scenes of happy family life, often with the parents smoking around their baby. Throughout the 1930s-40s, it wasn’t unusual to see beautiful women smoking in tobacco commercials, while in the movies, the ‘ femme fatales‘ glamorized smoking for women too. Despite the lipstick-colored filters and female-oriented commercials, there were not many young women smoking Marlboros in the general public. The brand held about a 1% share of sales in the US, far from being the ladies’ favorite. It’s fair to say Marlboro cigarettes were not hugely successful with either women or men during the first few decades after their launch into the American market. Women smoking in public were seen less as a threat or a sign of promiscuity, and over the decades began to be treated more equally with their male counterparts. She refused to pay and was arrested on January 22nd, 1908, the day after the law was enacted, before being released the following day.Īccording to reports, the arresting officer said: “Madam, you mustn’t – what would Alderman Sullivan say?” to which Mulcahey replied: “Well I am, and I don’t know.” In the years after the short-lived Sullivan Ordinance, attitudes began to change. The ordinance said nothing about male smokers and was vetoed just two weeks later by the city mayor George B McClellan Jr, but not before Katie Mulcahey was fined $5 for smoking in a prohibited place. Proposed by Timothy ‘Little Tim’ Sullivan, the municipal law banned managers of public places, such as hotels and restaurants, from allowing women to smoke on their premises. In the same year that the Marlboro trademark was registered in the US, the New York City board of aldermen passed the Sullivan Ordinance. The slogan ‘Mild as May’ was adopted, with the actress Mae West becoming the face of Marlboro’s commercials. Marketing for the new Marlboro brand in the US continued with a red filter that promised to deliver a smoother smoking experience while hiding lipstick stains. The Marlboro brand was launched in its own right in 1924.īy that time, Philip Morris & Co had marketed a brand with the British spelling ‘Marlborough’ as a “ladies’ favorite” for nearly 40 years. By 1902, the company opened its first UD subsidiary, and the trademark ‘Marlboro’ was registered in 1908. His widow Margaret and brother Leopold continued the business, expanding to a factory on Great Marlborough Street - the inspiration behind the name Marlboro. In 1846, Philip Morris opened a tobacco shop on Bond Street in London, the first location of what would eventually become Philip Morris International, owner of the Marlboro brand worldwide to this day. ‘Smoking women’ culture dates back to the very origins of the global tobacco industry, and it was not unusual to see young women smoking cigarettes in Victorian England. WOMEN AND SMOKINGīlack and White Portrait of Glamorous Woman Smoking Cigarette and Dressed in Vintage Clothing, Head and Shoulders Portrait in 1940s Film Noir Style What drove the popularity of smoking for women, and how did we go from beautiful women smoking on posters, to the Marlboro Man cowboy character we know today? In this article, we’ll take a look at the timeline of female smoking culture in the US, the history of 20th century Marlboro marketing, and how it all added up to a modern market where both women and men shop cigars. During those decades, much of Marlboro’s marketing was aimed at women, with commercials that depicted young women smoking and movie star endorsements. The Marlboro Man has become an iconic character in tobacco advertising history, yet the trademark ‘Marlboro’ existed for half a century before the cowboy first rode into Marlboro Country. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |