Every time you hear the name Marlboro you probably have an image of a rugged cowbow on a horse somewhere on the top of a hill or a mountain, enjoying a good smoke. This is all due to Leo Burnett's advertisement campaign for Marlboro meant to promote filtered cigarettes which by the time were consdidered feminine. This ad turned out to be one of the most brilliant campaigns of all time.

Needless to say is that Marlboro is the top selling cigarettes brand in USA and the whole world. These cigarettes are being manufactured by Phillip Morris USA (parent company – Altria) for the US smokers and by Phillip Morris International for the rest of the world.

It's probably hard to believe that Marlboro were initially light cigarettes for women promoted with the slogan “Mild as May”. The advertisements were highlighting the design of the cigarettes, which originally had a red band around the filter to hide lisptick traces. But it was actually the cowboy, the symbol of masculinity, that brought Phillip Morris success with the Marlboro cigarettes, transforming a female brand into one smoked by real men.

Marlboro is well known for its motor-sports sponsorship. If you have watched Formula 1 at least once then you definitely remember the white and red Marlboro suits that some F1 drivers wear. Marlboro began sponsoring teams in 1972. In addition to the cowboy image this type of advertiment also brough a lot of attention the the brand.

In 2007 the names “Mild”, “light” and other words describing cigarettes as less harmful to one's health were prohibitted by the federal court. Thus Marlboro assigned a color to each type of cigarettes they were previously marketing. Thus, for instance, Marlboro Lights, became Marlboro Golds after year 2007 when the name transition took place.