Good Day Bubblesphere and Happy Sunday to everyone up and Bubbling.

There is an article going around about Marlboro marketing their new product, Marlboro M, in states where marijuana has been legalized. They have apparently started packaging marijuana cigarettes.

Phillip Morris Introduces Marlboro Marijuana Cigarettes

“Phillip Morris, the world s biggest cigarette producer, announced today that they will join the marijuana legalization bandwagon and start producing marijuana cigarettes. Marketed under the brand Marlboro M , the cigarettes will be made available for sale through marijuana licensed outlets in the state of Colorado, and the state of Washington when it becomes commercially legal there later this year.

Serafin Norcik, Phillip Morris Sr. Vice President for Marketing said in an interview that the company has been high on the idea of marketing cannabis, and has been monitoring the market for some time. It was only when the recent legalization initiatives winning in Colorado and Washington that they finally made the decision to take a leap of faith.”

Status FALSE

Those rumors are fairly recent (published Jan 21st 2014 ) from website “Abril Uno” who released the news that tobacco giant Phillip Morris had announced the company would be entering the marijuana cigarette market with a brand called “Marlboro M”. As one might expect from a site called “Abril Uno” (April First), this article is a spoof. The site’s disclaimer is unambiguous “All articles contained herein are fiction (‘fake’), untrue, and for entertainment only.”

But what if something like this were to really happen?
I was hoping that this news was somewhat true however it’s not.

Picture from /

The marlboro brand – status quo

Cheap+cigarettes&find_loc=oakland%2c+ca san francisco

The Company
Marlboro is the largest selling brand of cigarettes in the world. It is made by Philip Morris USA and International, which is the largest cigarette manufacturer in the world. Philip Morris launched the Marlboro brand in 1924 as a woman s cigarette, based on the slogan Mild As May . In the 1920 s , advertising for the cigarette was primarily based around how lady like the cigarette was. After scientists published a major study linking smoking to lung cancer in the 1950s, Philip Morris repositioned Marlboro as a men’s cigarette in order to fit a market niche of men who were concerned about lung cancer. At the time, filtered cigarettes were considered safer than unfiltered cigarettes, but had been until that time only marketed to women. In the 1950s, Philipp Morris Overseas introduced first sales organisations and production facilities outside the U.S. Today, the company owns production sites in 56 countries, sales subsidiaries in 150 countries and sales its products in 180 countries.

Short Brand History

Marlboro in the 1920s and 1950s

  • 1920s Introduced by Philip Morris
  • Before/After World War II Different Positioning
  • 1955 Leo Burnett repositions brand to appeal to both male and female smokers The Tattooed Man image campaign, later The Marlboro Cowboy
  • 1963 Extension with The Marlboro Country theme
  • By 1972 No. 1 tobacco brand in the world
  • 1984 License for Marlboro garments ( Marlboro Classics )
  • 1993 Marlboro Friday 20% price cut to fight back against generic competitors
  • 2012 New campaign, obviously targeting young adult smokers ( Don t Be a Maybe )

Brand Name
The brand is named after Great Marlborough Street, the location of its original London Factory.

Logotype, Brand Colours and Typography
The Marlboro logo design represents the symbol of rugged individualism and masculinity. The logo design works well in various scales, from small to large size. The colours chosen work well in 2 colour and in black and white. The clever logo design works well and is immediately recognizable in positive and negative reproductions. Philip Morris owns for its Marlboro brand an own typography.

Brand Claim
Throughout its history, Marlboro have had several brand claims. Probably the most famous one is The Marlboro Country established in the 1960s with the aim of repositioning the brand to appeal to both male and female smokers.

In 2012, Philip Morris introduced the new brand claim is Don t Be a Maybe to target young adult smokers.

Brand Claim 2012 Don’t Be A Maybe

Marlboro Man

Symbols
Probably the most recognised symbol of the Marlboro brand is the cowboy. The cowboy played a huge role in establishing the Marlboro brand as the top selling cigarette. Therefore, the Marlboro Man is still a brilliant creation and a powerful icon and symbol for the brand.

The brand today does not exhibit any symbols or icons, apart form its logo. The Marlboro Man, however, is still recognised and associated with the Marlboro brand.

Product Portfolio

The Product
In 2008 the brand family underwent an architectural redesign. Marlboro s brand architecture represents three product lines, that is Flavor Line, Gold Line and Fresh Line. Marlboro Flavor is the authority in tobacco flavor for the whole brand family, representing superior smoking satisfaction. Marlboro Gold offers a range of superior, smooth tasting smoking dimensions, and Marlboro Fresh defines the reference category of refreshing taste sensations (non menthol to menthol products using capsule in filter technology).

Target Group
Young adult smokers (18 30) are key target group of Marlboro. Core lifestyles and needs of these young consumers are independence, hedonism, freedom and comfort.

Share this

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this Like Loading… Related