Leonard McCombe and The Marlboro Man


If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Leonard McCombe's image that inspired the Marlboro Man campaign is worth over $15 billion.

The photograph above shows Clarence Hailey Young, a foreman at the JA Ranch in Texas. McCombe had set out on assignment by Life magazine to document the real way of life of these cowboys, dispelling the glamorous image of most Hollywood movies at that time for the harsh and difficult work of ranching reality. 

Something in that 1949 photo must have caught the eye of legendary advertising executive Leo Burnett who later used it as his template for the Marlboro Man. Young's wrinkled and unshaven face framed by a large cowboy hat and bandana around his neck looked perfect to the ad executive. The fact that he had a lit cigarette on his lips probably convinced Mr. Burnett to choose the cowboy lifestyle for his advertising campaign.

The campaign for Marlboro was meant to include other macho professions, but the cowboy image emerged to be the clear winner. The choice obviously worked for Phillip Morris as the original filtered cigarettes which were first advertised for women as "Mild as May" became the winning ingredient when one tried to picture the place "Where the Flavor is." Within two years, sales of the cigarette increased three-fold.

Darren Winfield was the first commercial Marlboro Man, with many other actors and real cowboys following in his footsteps. Similarly, many photographers, including Jim Krantz and Sam Abell were commissioned to make the iconic ads.

Ultimately, the campaign would last just until counter-campaigns from health advocates became too overwhelming. It didn't help that some of the actors used in the ads later died of lung cancer.

While most tobacco companies nowadays have shifted their advertising campaigns away from the cowboy image, the original idea has been considered to be one of the most successful ad campaigns of all time. And to think that McCombe's Marlboro Man shot sparked the idea that would be worth millions of dollars from what was originally a ladies' cigarette.

Comments

  1. Smoking is bad and stinks, what is this

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  2. blah, smokes, but good post nonetheless

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  3. What an iconic photo, what a face, that is windswept and sun scorched and a stare that could start fires.

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  4. Yes, it is bad but I liked their campaign. I feel bad because the ads on cigarettes are restricted.

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  5. its so crazy to think that this one choice in advertisement made such a huge impact on the company. To think of what would happen had they gone with something else ya know?

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  6. Interesting stuff. He wasn't all that attractive but I guess that's part of the appeal.

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  7. Great foto, but I still won't smoke

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  8. they made smoking seem so glamorous back then. is aw an old ad the other day about doctors choose camel cigarettes haha

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  9. Marlboro were genius marketers. This must be one the reasons they are well known today.

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  10. indeed a great photo. Amazing how much impressions it carries

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  11. This man (in the picture) remembers me so much of the 'Cigarette Man' from X-Files!
    Btw, nice blog! I'll follow ;)

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  12. The Marlboro Man, now that's an iconic one!

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  13. This is iconic. It sucks that the companies had so much success fighting the critics to kill so many

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  14. Nice picture, but how many people have died as a result of the slick marketing of a concept?

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  15. Now thats a man right there! lol.

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  16. i had no clue about the advertising history of marlboro, its kind of brilliant.

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  17. True that the marketing was good, but cigarettes still are bad for you... So is cancer

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  18. I am willing to bet that in time these sorts of advertisements will come back. As the generations change . . . so do the perspectives.

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  19. I smoke. And i look like that :)

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  20. Never knew the picture came first! Good picture, tho.

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  21. Yeah, can't stand smoking at all but that's a great photograph.

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  22. I'm not a fan of smoking either but the Marlboro Man Campaign is legendary. And I didn't even know it was supposed to be a ladies' cigarette...

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  23. They pretty much did a 180 with that ad, shows how good it was.

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  24. i hate smoking but i am very impressed with their advertising/marketing techniques.

    +followed for a very well written post. I look forward to reading more in the future.

    come check out my fishes blog if you have some extra time!

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  25. So that's the photo that started it all. I hate cigarettes with a burning passion (lol) but I do find the iconic figure of the Marlboro man overwhelming. Thanks for the interesting read.

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  26. Oh God, the Malboro theme was in my head while I read this D:

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  27. Those Marlboro commercials featured the Magnificent Seven theme, right?

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  28. Pretty interesting about the advertising strategy!

    My family smokes marlboro so, something has to work I guess.

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  29. the cowboy lifestyle was so fake

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  30. Welcome to flavor country. I don't think I've seen cig ads in a long time. I'm old and from the south so they used to be EVERYWHERE.

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  31. It was indeed some brilliant advertising.

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  32. Against the law to advertise cigarettes in my country :/

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  33. The tobacco industries must have spent hundreds of millions of dollars back in the day to become huge

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  34. Definitely a successful ad campaign

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  35. it really brought out the whole cigs are macho thing

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  36. This makes me want to smoke a cigarette, just to look badass.

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  37. Sweet picture. The man has a very interesting stare. It captures your attention.

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  38. Brilliant advertising. I guess if it works go with it, can't blame them for trying.

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  39. I'm a non-smoker, but I LOVED the Malboro ads before movies in the cinema. Unfortunatly all smoking ads were banned from cinema :'(

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  40. Totally just thought about "Thank You for Smoking" when they tried to bribe the Marlboro Man to stop him from talking

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  41. marboro really knew what they were doing when marking this image. its a strong and admirable one which made it easy to target to so many different people

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  42. Great to know the history of the cowbow photo,

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  43. thats a nice picture of him

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  44. He looks hella gangsta for some odd reason!

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  45. As much as I hate smoking, I've gotta hand it to Marlboro and this iconic image. Also, the cowboy looks a lot like Ed Harris!

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  46. Now we just need a marlboro man of green leafy vegetables and we're good.

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  47. Smoking, overall, just kills and the advertising kills even more

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  48. he looks like so much like a bad ass

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  49. A harsh face for a harsh world, a great advertising campaign and image. It's to bad all the problems with cigarettes were discovered.

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  50. thank you for posting this. Very informative, and while I am a smoker, this def pushes me more towards quitting!

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  51. I think an advertisement of him came alive during a simpsons Halloween special.

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  52. I literally have to smoke a cigarette right this instant.

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  53. Interesting to know the back story

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  54. so more i look at the picture so more stupid does the cancer stick looks.. :/

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  55. That was amazing knowledge to learn! Thanks for that :D

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  56. the cigarette probably wasn't even a marlboro :x

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  57. It´s amazing how this symbol is still recognized internationally.

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  58. Very nice write-up. Enjoyed this post. Thanks for sharing!

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  59. Say what you will about the evils of tobacco, they sure funded the most creative ad campaigns of all time.

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  60. Iconic photo, I'm not a smoker though :P

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  61. heard about him first in "Thank you for smoking". Good movie.

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  62. Great post! Keep up the great blog, I'll be sure to return :)

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  63. Yes, he did die, and I never knew that the pic was originally unrelated to Marlboro

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  64. cool info, learned stuff today here

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  65. Just the man I want to be... shit better start smoking

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  66. even i wanna be him and i'm not a dude

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  67. This was a very interesting article! I went on a long tangent learning more about this clever marketing.

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  68. those types of smokes are "Cowboy Killers"

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  69. You'd think they would just market on the platform that smoking cures cancer.

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  70. He is so suave... nice campaign, I hate smoke, tho. lol

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  71. This is such a wonderful photograph. As a amateur photographer I know how hard it is to capture people on film that does them justice. This is simply a work of art. Everything just captures his personality so well and its like I actually know what kind of a person he is just by this one photo. I'm not surprised this is just a famous piece. The brilliance of it just shines and commands attention.

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  72. People that smoke usually stink, i hate that.
    The picture looks pretty good.

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  73. Nice blog....and that man has a great personality but when it comes to me i just hate smoking....

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  74. I hate smokers. The smell is horrible :S

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  75. Marlboro man sure looks macho, can't deny that. Of course if it looks cool doesn't mean it's good for you.

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  76. Such an awesome picture. Too bad they don't use it anymore.. This guy made people smoke! Aaah the good old days...

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  77. smoking is a health risk but there is no denying that it makes you look cool.

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  78. also... there are plenty of other ways to get cancer...

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  79. Classic shot. Doesn't make me want to take up smoking again, but an iconic image nonetheless.

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  80. Wow, great post. Cowboys are definitely pretty cool, even if cigs aren't I can see why those images worked the best for their product. I love these old western shots, I just bought a black and white John Wayne photo the other day.

    Nice post and thanks for your comment on mine too. Glad I can help teach accesorizing ;)
    Dale

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  81. A true gentlemen, and a truely awesome photo to boot.

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  82. this is pretty dope, keep em comign!

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  83. I quit smoking 3 month ago after 10 years!

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  84. He looks silly, I always hated the cowboy look.

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  85. Look at that man.

    Just look at him.

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  86. waw, great photo and really interesting writing. I'll be coming back for more!

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  87. He looks bad ass! Very informative post, thanks.

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  88. This is an awesome picture. I love old black and white photos.

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  89. that stoic look on his face....haunting.

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  90. thx god i quit smoking 2 years ago

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  91. just goes to show how important image and brand are to a product

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  92. I can't see the picture !! :-(.
    Smoking is eeeky lol!

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  93. the marlboro man! you have to give it to the cig companies, they know how to advertise.

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  94. Oh wow. I wish I have 173 comments on my blog! Good job on building a successful page, dude!

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  95. such an interesting post, i love the story behind the photo

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  96. wow what i great pic, i always wanted to be a cowboy lol

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  97. Heh little piece of interesting info d;

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  98. So the actors died of lung cancer.. What a surprise! Smoking is bad, but I have to admit the pic is cool though.

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  99. That guy is the most badass man alive.

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  100. The irony doesn't escape me that so many died of lung cancer. :/ Classic foto though.

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  101. they dont make men like that anymore.

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  102. Wow, that's such an iconic photo, great to know some of the history surrounding it, thanks

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  103. i dont know about u guys but i can sure go for a burger

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  104. Cool photo man! this guy's definitely a winner!!

    followed.

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  105. You cant fault cigarette company for there very successful advertising campaigns. It worked for them, especially this one.

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  106. The Marlboro Man's name was Clarence Hailey Long and he worked on the world famous JA Ranch in the Texas Panhandle. He was shy and unassuming, the photo was made for a Life Magazine feature on Cowboys. Phillip Morris chose the photo for an ad campaign for it's Marlboro brand. He didn't smoke Marlboros but actually rolled his own cigarettes. After the photo appeared he had marriage proposals from all over the country.....He was offered $20,000, a lot of money in the '50s, to do a beer ad and turned it down. He died in 1978 at the age of 68 from natural causes, not lung cancer. The photo has been chosen in the top ten best photographs published by Time Magazine.

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