|
Claim: Marlboro is owned by the KKK.
Origins: Rumors about markings on the Marlboro package indicating Ku Klux Klan ownership have been in circulation at least since the mid-1980s. By 1989, these slanders had become so widespread that they were well known even in France and England. Which markings indicates Klan ownership vary, depending upon whom you hear the rumor from:
even back in its early days when it was still possible for individuals to own enough of the company to have any sort of a say in how it was run. PMC has no need to fear doing its laundry in public, sheets and all.
One has to wonder at the basic premise of the whisper. Even if the KKK did own a business (and in the world of specious rumor the list of companies it's supposed to control is endless), why would it be fool enough to advertise the fact, even by way of coded references worked into package design? A huge public backlash would be risked against no potential gain, and that makes no sense. Were such ownership to come to light, whatever firm the KKK ran would be immediately boycotted, lose its customer base in the blink of an eye, and have to shut its door forever shortly thereafter. If there's one sure death knell a company could sound, it would be to announce it's owned by the Ku Klux Klan. Okay, so the rumor fails the common sense test. Why is it so popular, then? Everyone likes to think he's been let in on a secret, and that is perhaps what lies at the heart of this bit of lore. That the rumor itself is ridiculous doesn't interfere with that special frisson of knowing something others have yet to catch on to. Besides, everyone knows cigarettes are bad for you and the companies who profit from flogging them are evil — why not combine both elements with the KKK, one of the few groups in existence worthy of being paired off with them? According to lore, PMC's founder, Philip Morris, was a Klan member, which is supposedly how Marlboro fell into the hands of the KKK. Truth is, Morris was a London tobacco shop owner in the 1850s. In 1902 this British manufacturer set up a corporation in New York to sell its British brands, including Philip Morris, Blues, Cambridge, Derby, and one named after the street its London factory was on, Marlborough. (Heh. So much for that "orobl jew"
(A similar KKK rumor circulates about Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of Reynolds Tobacco, the firm which produces Camels. That too is untrue, although Reynolds was a native of Virginia, which at least would make a bit more sense than trying to pin KKK membership on a London shop owner. Strangely enough, most of the lore surrounding Camels has to do with naked men and phalluses hidden in the artwork.) Let's look at why it's impossible for the KKK to own Marlboro. The Philip Morris Company was incorporated in New York shortly after the turn of the century. These days it is publicly owned and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol MO. The claim that any one entity could own this company is laughable — there are It's inevitable that a firm as large as the Philip Morris Company would become the target for wild rumors. Even if cigarette companies enjoyed a positive image in the marketplace, they would still provoke jealousy simply because of their size and the ubiquity of their product. That they're despised both for what cigarettes do and for their conduct in keeping vital information from the public as long as they did only paints a brighter bullseye on their backsides. But that bullseye would always have been there anyway. Earlier in this article we mentioned how one set of printers' marks has been mistaken in the world of lore for the eyes of a lurking Klansman. Another printing rumor exists about a set of marks located under the bottom flap of the box. Alpha-numeric renderings such as This tale is only wishful thinking. Though Marlboro has run a number of promotions requiring the accumulation of tokens found on its cigarette packs to later be exchanged for premiums (merchandise), it has yet to run a secret promotion, nor is it ever likely to. The object, after all, of such giveaways is to attract new customers with the whiff of "something for nothing" while maintaining established custom by building brand loyalty. Such an agenda is not served by failing to advertise what goodies are up for grabs or how to get your paws on them. Not all lore associated with Marlboro cigarettes is false, however. At least one actor who portrayed the Barbara "sailing into the topic of cancer" Mikkelson Additional information:  Philip Morris (tobacco division)
Last updated: 30 November 2006 Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2009 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.  Sources:
|
|
