Sampling of Marlboro Miles offerings.Įnd of Marlboro Miles The major 1998 tobacco settlement was the beginning of the end of this type of advertising for tobacco companies as the real ethical angle of big tobacco’s impact made this type of marketing seem even more outlandish. Marlboro Fuji mountain bike, check the front logo.
The Los Angeles Times even tried to report on one of these secretive outings in a piece in 2004 to the dismay of those in attendance. The real diehards could even get invited to group camping outings like the odd video depicted above. Back then, you would save your cigarette pack proofs of purchase and turn that into Marlboro merchandise via the Marlboro Miles catalog. For example, I recently found the foldable Fuji Marlboro branded mountain bike at my local thrift store.
Marlboro was trying to market an active living brand while pushing a product that would ultimately someday, ironically, make you too sick to use the very merchandise it was marketing. The odd choice of trance music in the video is just as fitting as the odd pairing of the rugged outdoor life and cigarette smoking.