The Marlboro Man is a figure that was used in tobacco advertising campaigns for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by Leo Burnett in 1954. The images initially featured rugged men portrayed in a variety of roles but later primarily featured a rugged cowboy or cowboys in picturesque wild terrain. The ads were originally conceived as a way to popularize filtered cigarettes, which at the time were considered feminine. The campaign, created by Leo Burnett Worldwide, is said to be one of the most brilliant advertisement campaigns of all time. It transformed a feminine campaign, with the slogan "Mild as May", into one that was masculine, in a matter of months. The first models were a Navy lieutenant and Andy Armstrong, the ad agency's art supervisor. Other early models were Robert Larking, the sales promotion director of Philip Morris; and others from the Leo Burnett ad agency, Lee Stanley and Owen Smith. A number of models who have portrayed the Marlboro Man have died of smoking-related diseases. Cowboys proved to be popular, which led to the "Marlboro Cowboy" and "Marlboro Country" campaigns. The Marlboro man on this poster is probably Wayne McLaren. McLaren worked as a stuntman and rodeo rider before being hired to appear in ads for Marlboro. McLaren competed in bronc riding and bull riding events. In 1976, he did promotional work for the famous Marlboro cigarette advertising campaign as the "Marlboro Man". After developing lung cancer in 1990, McLaren became an anti-smoking crusader citing his 30-year smoking habit as the cause of his cancer. During the time of McLaren's anti-smoking activism, Philip Morris denied that McLaren ever appeared in a Marlboro ad. In response, McLaren produced an affidavit from a talent agency that had represented him and a paycheck stub asserting that he had been paid for work on a "Marlboro print" job. McLaren died in 1992. Poster has small pinholes,, small edge tears (repaired with filmoplast tape) and some hardly visible creases.