Robert Norris, the Marlboro Man in Commercials, Dies at 90

Barry Vacker, an associate professor of critical media studies at Temple University, said the Marlboro Man came during a turbulent period of the Cold War, the civil rights and women’s rights movements and the emergence of rock ’n’ roll.

“The Marlboro Man stood as an iconic symbol, an individual in control of his destiny,” Professor Vacker said. “He was a reassuring figure at the height of our fear of nuclear annihilation and a conservative counter to changing values.”

He said the campaign’s cultural significance could not be matched. There does not seem to be a modern-day equivalent to the cowboy, he added.

Mr. Norris, though never a smoker, was featured as the Marlboro Man in commercials that ran for about 14 years in the United States and Europe. He eventually abandoned the campaign because he felt he was setting a bad example for his children, according to his ranch website.

In 1964, the surgeon general declared smoking a health hazard, and the tobacco industry faced increased regulations. Philip Morris, the nation’s largest cigarette maker, acknowledged decades later that smoking causes lung cancer after increased pressure from lawsuits, regulators and Congress.

A federal ban on television and radio advertisements for cigarettes took effect in 1971, and the Marlboro Man campaign, among others, was discontinued in the late 1990s in the United States as part of a sweeping settlement of litigation brought by nearly all the states against the major tobacco companies.

Mr. Norris was born in Chicago on April 10, 1929, into a family of mostly financiers and lawyers. He grew up in St. Charles, Ill., about 40 miles west of Chicago, and attended the University of Kentucky, where he played football.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/09/us/robert-norris-dead.html?emc=rss&partner=rss