Marlboro Logo PNG
One of the most popular tobacco brands at the US market is manufactured by Philip Morris USA, which is a branch of the Altria company. The most important manufacturing plant is located in Richmond, Virginia.
Meaning and history
The visual identity of one of the world’s most famous tobacco brands has always been simple and strict. The text-based logo was redesigned only three times since the beginning of the company’s history and until the creation of the iconic identity, we all know today. And all the previous versions were more or less the same — a minimalist and traditional inscription in an elegant color combination.
1924 – 1928
The original logo for Marlboro was designed in 1924 and stayed with the brand for only four years. It was a nameplate in all capitals with the “Cigarettes” tagline in smaller letters. Both parts of the logo were executed in the same typeface — a custom and elegant serif font.
The first logo was executed in black, which made it easy to place it on packages and documents with any additional details and lettering.
1955 – Today
The 1959 variant is essentially the same design as the one before. They’ve tweaked the colors to make them brighter and more saturated and brought several structural changes. Firstly, the emblem is now wider and shaped like a square. The red area became comparably larger, while the wordmark and the symbol in the middle are now smaller than before.
They’ve also modified the coloring for that symbol in the middle, making much of it golden instead of grey, whereas the oval inside became red, and the letters ‘PM’ became white.
1955 – 1959
In 1954 the company decided their brand needed a mascot, and the famous Marlboro man was created. He was an inevitable part of all the advertising campaigns until 1999.
1959 – Today
In the 1980s the Marlboro logo was slightly redesigned. Keeping the style and color palette of the previous version, the wordmark was slightly modified and the emblem was added to the pack.
The inscription of the new version is executed in a thick condensed serif font, the one close to OL Corvinus Bold Cond. It looks more confident and modern than all the previous logotypes, reflecting the authority and expertise of the brand and its huge experience.
As for the emblem, it is a heraldic symbol, depicting two rampant lions in gold, holding a red medallion with the crown on top. Two white letters, “PM”, standing for Philip Morris Group, are placed on a red background. This seal is a quality mark and a sign of the brand’s affiliation with one of the world’s most reputable and influential corporations.
Symbol
Currently the company doesn’t exhibit any emblems apart from the official one, yet it would be unfair not to mention Marlboro Man, the main hero of the brand’s advertisements. It is definitely one of the most recognizable corporate symbols even today, many years after the ban on tobacco advertising. The TV advertisement with a lone cowboy enabled Marlboro to go the way from a 1% market share to the 4th largest cigarette seller in the US.
Current emblem
The visual center of the Marlboro emblem is the black wordmark. It is placed on the white background having a mountain-like shape. The rest of the emblem is has red color. In addition to this, there is a golden crest, depicting the “P” and “M” characters, with a rampant horse on both sides. These letters are the initials of Philip Morris (the name of the company that produced and marketed the Marlboro cigarettes).
Font
The bold and condensed serif type featured in the emblem is perfectly readable and doesn’t look offbeat. Probably the most characteristic characters are “a” and “r”. The font is called Neo Contact. It was created by the German type foundry URW++. The type was developed in the so-called Egyptienne style.
Color
The color scheme of the Marlboro logo is based on the combination of red, black and white. Unlike many other modern logos that are given in a variety of colors, the Marlboro symbol could hardly be imagined in another color scheme. Some of the qualities these colors are associated with include passion, courage (red), purity (white), elegance and mystery (red).
