The Allure and Dangers of Smoking

During the ’80s, many men and women were attracted by the advertising campaign launched by Philip Morris. Filmed in the beautiful outdoors, the television advertisements showed the hardy cowboy lighting a cigarrette, relaxing in front of a camp fire after a hard day’s work. The chilly, mountain night scene blended well with the lights and shadows created by the camp fire. Any thought of cold temperature was extinguished by the warmth of the fire, and the lit cigarrette. Other versions of the commercial showed cowboys on horseback traversing wild, white rivers and galloping across grazing lands of the West. The images are made more powerful by the music composed by Elmer Bernstein which was originally used for the ’60s Western film entitled Magnificent Seven. The score was used extensively in Marlboro commercials prior to the implementation of the cigarrette advertisement ban. At the center of this commercial was the quintessential Marlboro Man — rugged, tough, manly, and a smoker. The commercial ends with an appealing invitation to, Come to where the flavor is…

Wayne McLaren and David McLean both played the iconic Marlboro Man in...