Clarence Hailey Long, Jr (1910-1978) had a face sunburned to the color of saddle leather and obviously had his priorities straight, saying “If it weren’t for a good horse, a woman would be the sweetest thing in the world.” A photo of the Texas cowboy in a 1949 issue of LIFE magazine served as inspiration for advertising executive Leo Burnett, who in 1954, conceived the supremely masculine “Marlboro Man”. More about the man and the campaign after the jump
Hailed one of the most brilliant ad campaigns of all time, the Marlboro Man helped to popularize filtered cigarettes which at the time were considered quite feminine. In fact, when Marlboro was introduced in 1924, it was marketed as a woman’s cigarette and had the slogan “Mild as May”.
Though there have been many Marlboro Man models over time, Long (seen above) was the original inspiration for the advertising campaign. He died at the age of 68, but not of lung cancer ;-)
Read more about the Marlboro Man and other notable images at Iconic Photos.
[via The Daily What]
3 replies on “Iconic Photos: The Marlboro Man”
its quite sad that 50+ years ago icons actually walked the walk, whereas the icons of today have been through the pr mill… to the point where people like zac efron are considered icons!!
i give would away some prized anatomies for a time machine
I’m so with you there. There’s no honesty or finesse in “icons” anymore just a whole lot of soulless plastic people like zac and miley. :devil:
How right you are – three of the Marlboro Men did die of lung cancer. They don’t make them like they used to.
Lol @ Zac Efron. I think he’d be a great spokesman for hair product, zit concealer, anal bleaching cream, etc. Speaking of “icons” I see Vanilla Ice is keeping it real, lite as it may be ;-)