Philip Morris launched the Marlboro brand in 1924 as a woman's cigarette, based on the slogan "Mild As May". In the 20s, advertising for the cigarette was primarily based around how ladylike the cigarette was. To this end, the filter had a printed red band around it to hide lipstick stains, calling it "Beauty Tips to Keep the Paper from Your Lips".

This ad kicked off maybe the most important/successful rebranding campaign in history: Marlboro changing from being a "Mild As May", unsuccessful woman's cigarette, to a real he-man cigarette which became the world's biggest brand. Philip Morris set out to prove that it was OK for a real man to smoke a filter cigarette, and succeeded. This is the commercial that started it, missing only the jingle "You get a lot to like with a Marlboro—filter—flavor—flip-top box."

Public Domain (age)