Sunday, July 1, 2018

169. L&M CIGARETTES: “Come on Over to the L&M Side”, 1967-1968

L&M FILTERS, local cigarette ad, with Filipina model, Benigna Rustia. 1968


L&M CIGARETTES has a long history,  and takes its name from a product of an American tobacco company, Liggett and Myers founded in 1873. “L&M” started as a brand name for a plug chewing tobacco in 1885, but it was only in 1952 that the brand name was inherited by a modern cigarette product, made with a smoke filter.

At their launch,  L&M CIGARETTES were touted as  "American cigarettes of the highest quality with the best filter", and as such, was marketed in the 1950s on a health platform—“Just what the doctor ordered” .

It enjoyed much success around the world-- in Latin America, Europe, the Arab region, the Far East—including the Philippines. L&M CIGARETTES were extensively advertised in full-page ads, which were localized even as they adapted U.S. campaign slogans. 

WATCH THIS 1 L&M TV AD, 1966
"Come on Over to the L&M Side" Jingle

By 1967, L&M CIGARETTES in the Philippines began using elements of the  highly successful and engaging “Come on over to the L&M Side” campaign, first produced in the U.S.
 
JUST FOR THE TASTE OF IT! L&M Print Ad, 1967.
The American L&M commercial with a catchy jingle was aired on local television that year, supplemented by illustrated ads of foreigners with a Philippine scene in the background.Perhaps to capture the attractive image of the Philippines as an exotic Far East paradise, the local ads were shot using a Filipina beauty (Benigna Rustia) in a Hawaiian setting.
 
COME ON OVER TO THE L&M SIDE! Print ad, 1968.
In 1999, the L&M trademark rights were acquired by the largest tobacco company in the United States, Philip Morris. Its Philippine affiliate, Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. (PMPMI), joined forces with Lucio Tan’s Fortune Tobacco Corporation (FTC) in 2010, resulting  a new company called Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. Inc. (PMFTC). It continues to produce L&M CIGARETTES (L&M Filter Kings, L&M Lights, L&M Menthol, L&M Menthol Lights) which is considered a mid-sized brand.

 SOURCES:
youtube video, L&M CIGARETTE COMMERCIAL #2 (1966),uploaded by throwback, posted on Oct. 6, 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlckpJWcO2U


3 comments: