This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedanta.

In the 1960s, Madison Avenue was trying to come up with a campaign for a major consumer

brand.

On a ranch in Wyoming, advertising executives discovered a cowboy who seemed like a perfect fit.

His name was Darrell Winfield, and he came across as tough, masculine, self-reliant.

His face was soon plastered on billboards across America, Asia, and Africa.

Ads showed him riding across rugged landscapes,

often in silhouette.

As violins played hauntingly in the background,

the slogan on screen read,

This is Marlboro Country. The

slogan on screen read, This is Marlboro Country.

The campaign to sell Marlboro Cigarettes

was one of the most effective in the history of advertising.

It sold more than just tobacco products.

It sold an image of the American West.

In urban neighborhoods across the United States and in crowded cities and poor villages around the world,

it offered a seductive vision of independence, self-sufficiency, and freedom.

The Marlboro man told two and freedom.

The Marlboro man told two great lies.

The first caused untold sickness, disease, and death.

Cigarettes are responsible for millions of deaths from lung cancer, heart disease, and emphysema.

...