Burnett - Marlboro - 1980s

I am offering here an absolute highlight for collectors of vintage advertising or for lovers of industrial loft design:

An original, large-format Marlboro advertisement poster from 1980/81.

The motif: A legendary “Marlboro Country” image: A cowboy in a red shirt leads a white packhorse through a vast canyon landscape.

Including the original, contemporaneous warning notice from the Minister of Health at the bottom.

Although many think the advertising was shot directly in Arches National Park, the region’s most famous filming location is actually just outside. The so-called Marlboro Point is located northwest of the Island in the Sky Districts in the neighboring Canyonlands National Park.

Name origin: The viewpoint was named so because Philip Morris produced iconic ad shots with the Marlboro Man there in the 1980s.
View: It offers a wide view over the Shafer Canyon, which strongly resembles the reddish rock landscapes also found in Arches National Park.
Accessibility: The place is today a secret tip for photographers, but only reachable via a rough, unpaved road (Dirt Road) that requires off-road capability.

The Cowboy of the 80s: Darrell Winfield
In the 1980s, Darrell Winfield was the defining face of the campaign. He wasn’t an actor but a real cowboy whom the advertising agency Leo Burnett discovered on a ranch in Wyoming.

Authenticity: Winfield was chosen because he embodied the “rugged masculinity” sought for the “Marlboro Country” campaign.
Filming: In the early 80s (e.g., 1981 and 1983) there were elaborate shoots in the Moab region and on ranches in Wyoming, often involving hundreds of horses to create the perfect Wild West idyll.

Cultural context
The campaign leveraged Utah’s spectacular rock formations (such as arches and buttes) to evoke longing for freedom and independence.

Advertising agency:
Leo Burnett

Success: These images made Marlboro the world's best-selling cigarette brand.
Downside: Later the campaign was shadowed by the deaths of several actors from smoking-related illnesses, which gave the brand the nickname “Cowboy Killer.”

Condition & Details:
Size: Large-format 18/1 for advertising walls (about 9–10 m² total area; about 356 cm x 252 cm).

Framing: The poster consists of 8 large individual sheets.

Condition: Flawless and undamaged! It has never been glued (unrolled), but stored for decades in a light-protected shipping tube. The color intensity is as on the first day. The paper still has proper tension!

NOTE on the photos: Because the paper has been rolled for years, I weighed it down with wooden blocks for the photos. The waviness subsides after the poster is professionally laid out or mounted.
The single photo showing the entire motif is an AMATEUR DIGITAL COLLAGE – and thus ONLY a ROUGH preview I created to make the motif recognizable. The photos were difficult to shoot due to the size (poster laid out on the floor, weighed down with wooden blocks visible at the edges – and the camera held over the head by hand). The waviness and the lack of professional lighting make reflections/glare appear strongly exaggerated! Once the poster is mounted, these are no longer visible). The photos therefore appear slightly DISTORTED.

A true historical document of advertising history. Ideal for showrooms, man caves, or large loft walls.