How Wyoming's 'Marlboro Men’ Helped Get The World Hooked On Cigarettes

People were smoking cigarettes before the Marlboro Man first appeared on billboards and television screens in 1954.

However, there's an argument to be made that the world wasn't addicted to smoking until Philip Morris International — then Philip Morris & Co. — revolutionized the cigarette industry with its incredibly successful marketing campaign of "Marlboro masculinity."

Cigarette sales skyrocketed when the Marlboro Man rode into American pop culture. And where better to find the authentic American cowboy than in Wyoming?

The savvy marketing campaign that turned Marlboro from an obscure brand into one of the most recognizable on the planet romanticized the authenticity and machismo of the American cowboy. Those people and places came from real ranches in Wyoming.

Then, it could be