Strangely enough, most of the lore surrounding Camels has to do with naked men and phalluses hidden in the artwork.) 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. (A similar KKK rumor circulates about Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of Reynolds Tobacco, the firm which produces Camels. 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. Truth is, Morris was a London tobacco shop owner in the 1850s. 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?Īccording to lore, PMC's founder, Philip Morris, was a Klan member, which is supposedly how Marlboro fell into the hands of the KKK. That the rumor itself is ridiculous doesn't interfere with that special frisson of knowing something others have yet to catch on to. Why is it so popular, then?Įveryone 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. Okay, so the rumor fails the common sense test. If there's one sure death knell a company could sound, it would be to announce it's owned by the Ku Klux Klan. 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. 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. One has to wonder at the basic premise of the whisper. PMC has no need to fear doing its laundry in public, sheets and all. There is no evidence that PMC is or was ever owned by the Ku Klux Klan,Įven 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. Marlboro is the flagship tobacco product of the Philip Morris Company. They don't appear on current packs, however, as Philip Morris has done away with them.) (The two spots were actually common printers' proofs for colors used on packaging. Tearing open the bottom of the pack in a certain way was rumored to reveal the head of a hooded Klansman, with two spots (one black, one gold) on the package serving as the Klansman's eyes.All together, this decoding results in "horrible jew." (Why, precisely, the phrase "horrible jew" is supposed to indicate ties to the KKK as opposed to general anti-semitism is never explained.) The final five letters of Marlboro are "lboro." Reverse them to get "orobl," a fragment conspiracy theorists claim is meant to be read as "horrible." Turning "Marlboro" upside-down and reading the first three letters backwards results in "jeW" (the upside-down "r" looks like a "j").(Evidently, they'd never heard of Julius Caesar.) The "Veni, Vidi, Vici" motto emblazoned on the banner is believed by some to be the motto of the Ku Klux Klan. Some who look between the horses legs see two hooded Klansmen carrying the motto banner.(Be careful with flashing that gesture abroad - in England, delivering it with the palm faced inwards towards the signaler's body means "Up Yours!") This "victory" symbol is read by those looking for proof of Klan involvement as a symbol of Klan triumph. When viewed upside-down, the positioning of their forelegs could be taken for a hand gesture known in the United States as the "V for Victory" or "Peace" symbol (depending on which generation one hails from). The two horses on the Marlboro crest also come in for comment.Given that the chevroning appears on three surfaces of the pack (front and back plus one of the sides - the one carrying the Surgeon General's warning has no room for additional styling), one could "read" three Ks on the pack, resulting in "KKK", the abbreviated name of the Ku Klux Klan. The red chevroning on the white background is often cited is as forming the two jutting arms of the capital letter "K" when the pack is tipped on its side.Which markings indicates Klan ownership vary, depending upon whom you hear the rumor from: By 1989 these slanders had become so widespread that they were well known even in France and England. Origins: Rumors about markings on the Marlboro package indicating Ku Klux Klan ownership have been in circulation at least since the mid-1980s.
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