Marlboro

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Health Groups on Philip Morris Move: 'Reprehensible'

Big Tobacco giant has scooped up UK pharma company Vectura, which makes asthma inhalers

(Newser) - If it seems odd to you that a Big Tobacco giant would be getting into the asthma inhaler business, you're not the only one. NPR notes that "health groups are suspicious" after it was announced Thursday that Philip Morris International has become the majority stakeholder of Vectura, a...

Robert Norris, 'Marlboro Man' Who Didn't Smoke, Dies

Rancher quit the job to set an example for his children

(Newser) - Robert Norris, who posed as the "Marlboro Man" in ads and commercials for years despite never having smoked, has died. He was 90. Norris died in hospice care in Colorado Springs, his hometown, surrounded by family, People reports. He was one of the first Marlboro Men, portraying a fictional...

Legal Pot Could Be Next Move for Marlboro Maker

Altria is in talks with a Canadian company

(Newser) - The maker of Marlboro cigarettes is joining some of the biggest names in beer in exploring the budding cannabis marketplace. Altria Group Inc., which owns Philip Morris USA, is the latest big company to show interest in marijuana. Canadian medical marijuana company Cronos Group Inc. has confirmed talks with Altria...

11K Marlboro Smokers Seek Share of $45M Settlement

Anybody who bought them in Arkansas before 2010 qualifies

(Newser) - Anybody who bought Marlboro Lights or Ultra Lights in Arkansas over a 40-year period qualifies for a share of a $45 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit, and more than 11,000 have applied. The settlement applies to anybody who bought the brands between 1971, when Marlboro Lights were introduced,...

Marlboro Man Dies at 85
 Marlboro Man Dies at 85 

Marlboro Man Dies at 85

Darrell Hugh Winfield portrayed ad character for years

(Newser) - Darrell Hugh Winfield, one of the last Marlboro Men, died Monday at his home in Wyoming at age 85, the AP reports. The macho Marlboro Man was introduced to advertise the cigarette brand in the 1950s, in an attempt to make filtered cigarettes—which had traditionally been marketed to women—...

Smoking Kills Another Marlboro Man

Former bit-part actor dies of COPD

(Newser) - Eric Lawson, who portrayed the rugged Marlboro man in cigarette ads during the late 1970s, has died. He was 72. Lawson died earlier this month of respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, his wife Susan says. Lawson was an actor with bit parts on such TV...

Marlboro Maker Targets China's Vaccine Market

Philip Morris trying to move beyond cigarettes

(Newser) - Marlboro maker Philip Morris only has a tiny sliver of China's gargantuan cigarette market, but it is determined to do business in the country, even if that means moving beyond traditional cigarettes, the Wall Street Journal reports. China's state-owned tobacco firm has a virtual monopoly on cigarettes sales,...

Philip Morris CEO: Smoking Not Hard to Quit

CEO himself characterized as 'longtime smoker'

(Newser) - Sure, cigarettes are bad for you and addictive, but they're really not that hard to quit—in the rose-colored world that belongs to Philip Morris CEO Louis Camilleri, who was responding to anti-tobacco comments at the cigarette maker's annual shareholder meeting. Camilleri was in 2009 characterized as a...

Altria's 'Safer' Smokes Latest in Line of Flops

Marlboro Ultra Smooth can't beat declining demand in 3-year test

(Newser) - Altria is dropping its Marlboro Ultra Smooth cigarettes, the Wall Street Journal reports—the latest in a growing list of failures to sell Americans on so-called "safer" tobacco products. The cigarettes, which used special filters to block carcinogens, failed to attract consumer interest in a 3-year test, "presumably...

Tobacco Giant Plans Spinoff of Overseas Arm

Philip Morris unit, less vulnerable to lawsuits, can focus on growth

(Newser) - Altria, the world's largest tobacco company, wants to break its Philip Morris International unit off from its US counterpart, Bloomberg reports, to pursue greater overseas growth while insulating it from health-related US lawsuits. "Tobacco is growing overseas, while in the US it's in decline, making a reasonable argument for...

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