LOS ANGELES (AP) When it came to portraying the rugged western outdoorsman who helped transform a pack of filtered cigarettes into the world’s most popular brand, Marlboro Man Eric Lawson was the real deal.

Ruggedly handsome, the actor could ride a horse through the wide open spaces of the Southwest, from Texas to Colorado to Arizona or wherever else the Phillip Morris tobacco company sent him to light up while representing a true American icon, the cowboy. And he really did smoke Marlboro cigarettes, as many as three packs a day.

Lawson was still smoking in 2006 when he was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He died of the disease at his home in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 10. He was 72.

For three years in the late 1970s and early ’80s, Lawson portrayed one of the most iconic figures in both advertising and popular culture.

And for the past several years, Lawson had spoken out fiercely about the hazards of smoking, doing a public service announcement for the American Cancer Society in the 1990s, years before he was able to bring himself to quit.

“He tried to speak to the kids, telling them don’t start smoking,” his wife, Susan Lawson, told The Associated Press. “He already knew cigarettes had a hold on him.”

Exactly how many rugged he man types portrayed the Marlboro Man over the years isn’t clear, although Lawson was one of dozens.

His wife said Monday he was friendly with some of the others, including Wayne McLaren, a former rodeo rider who died in 1992 of lung cancer that he blamed on his lifelong smoking habit.

Like Lawson, McLaren spent his final years advocating against smoking. So did David McLean, who died in 1995 of lung cancer that he also blamed on smoking. He was 73.

As the Marlboro Man, Lawson and the others helped turn a brand that had once been marketed as a mild women’s cigarette into the ultimate symbol of American machismo.

Not every Marlboro Man was a cowboy there were also pilots, hunters, weight lifters, miners and other macho characters. But cowboys were clearly the most popular and the most often used.

“The most powerful and in some quarters, most hated brand image of the century, the Marlboro Man stands worldwide as the ultimate American cowboy and masculine trademark, helping establish Marlboro as the best selling cigarette in the world,” the industry publication Advertising Age declared in 1999.

Part of the reason for the brand’s success was that Phillip Morris’ ad agency went to great pains to track down real cowboys, who not only looked rugged but could really do things like rope and ride.

“He had to go out and ride, he needed to prove himself as a cowboy,” Lawson’s wife recalled of her husband’s audition to become a Marlboro Man.

By the time he got the job in 1978, cigarette advertising was no longer allowed on U.S. television, so Lawson appeared in print and billboard ads. His wife still has one from Time magazine.

The ads, often filmed in stunning, picturesque settings in the West always emphasized that it was a real man, not in any way a wimp, who smoked a Marlboro.

Lawson was perfect for the part. The veteran actor had appeared in such Western films and TV shows as “The Shooter,” ”Walker, Texas Ranger,” ”Tall Tale,” ”Bonanza Under Attack” and “The A Team.”

Later, he also became a perfect role model who made a difference in the lives of the people he kept from smoking simply by pointing out what it did to him, said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.

“That’s important,” Seffrin said, “because people stop and think if that happens to Eric Lawson it could happen to me.”

In addition to his wife, Lawson is survived by six children, 18 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

Associated Press Writer Daisy Nguyen contributed to this story.

What do marlboro lights smokers know about low-tar cigarettes?

Bell discount cigarettes – bell, ca

1. K. Michael Cummings, Ph.D., M.P.H.,
2. Andrew Hyland, Ph.D.,
3. Maansi A. Bansal, M.S. and
4. Gary A. Giovino, Ph.D.

1. Department of Health Behavior, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute Buffalo, NY

1. Correspondence K. Michael Cummings, Ph.D., M.P.H., Department of Health Behavior, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Elm and Carlton Streets, Buffalo, NY 14263 USA Tel. 1 (716) 845 8456 Fax 1 (716) 845 8487 E mail at

• Received September 5, 2003.
• Accepted January 26, 2004.

Abstract

The present study examined the extent to which Marlboro Lights smokers perceive lower health risks associated with using a low tar cigarette and the extent to which they are aware of filter vents in their cigarettes. The data for this study came from a nationally representative random digit dialed telephone survey of 1,046 adult current cigarette smokers (aged 18 years or older) conducted between May and September 2001. Respondents were asked about the brand and type of cigarettes smoked, beliefs about the health benefits associated with low tar and filtered cigarettes, and awareness of ventilation holes in the filters of their cigarettes. Marlboro Lights was the most popular brand, smoked by 19% of survey respondents. Only 32% of Marlboro Lights smokers reported that the filters on their cigarettes were ventilated. Many Marlboro Lights smokers believed incorrectly that lower tar, light, and ultra light cigarettes were less harmful compared with higher tar, full flavored cigarettes. For example, only 11% of Marlboro Lights smokers knew that the tar delivery of a light cigarette was about the same as that of a full flavored cigarette. The responses of Marlboro Lights smokers to questions about the hazards of low tar cigarettes were similar to those expressed by smokers of other cigarette brands. The data presented in this paper reveal that smokers of the leading light cigarette brand sold in the United States today, Marlboro Lights, are for the most part unaware of filter vents in the cigarettes they smoke and are misinformed about the health risk of using low tar and filtered cigarettes.

• 2004 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco