Cigarettes don’t kill people, people kill people. (Themselves)
Peace,
mangeorge
So what’s your point, Hub. I hope this isn’t some kind of rationale in support of the existence of groups like the KKK.
Peace,
mangeorge
Boy, facts are few and far between on this page!
I did some “research” and found that Philip Morris opened his tobacco shop in London in 1847 which was about twenty years before the KKK arose in Pulaski, Tennessee. To some that would seem to be proof that there is no connection.
Others might notice that the official crest of P.M. looked a tad different then. The lions pose is not quite the same. There is no way to discern a hooded figure in the old crest. Some contemporary printings of their crest reflect a similar discrepancy - but never on their tobacco products, at least not that I’ve seen.
The Marlboro brand was not introduced until 1955. The three red "K"s were plastered on the side and the crest slightly altered.
Although the fact that nobody here really sees what I do, I must conclude that I need to:
You’re probably right that you are not going to get the hard evidence you are looking for. On the other hand, as noted, do you suppose Philip Morris is going to hand out press releases pointing to their connections?
Some additional circumstantial evidence that you may accept or reject at your liesure/pleasure:
I don’t see three K’s unless (as you indicated) I twist the box at a wierd angle to see the standard white chevron against the red backdrop repeated on more than one side.
Going to eBay to look for older Marlboro images, I found a 1945 P.M. “coat of arms” in which no hooded figures could be found among the legs of the horse and the pard/lion.
Going to eBay I found a 1951 image (prior to the mid-50’s repackaging) that had no chevrons (hence no K’s).
The Southern Poverty Law Center (which has been trying to bankrupt the Klan, one coven at a time), has never taken on Philip Morris in a lawsuit, nor has it accused P. M. of underwriting Klan activities. (SPLC gets “the books” of every klan outfit that it can find.)
Tom~
When you buy that pack of Camels, Sake, take a good look at the half dollars you use.
Kennedy was a Communist, you know. And if you look at the bottom of his picture on the coin you’ll see a very small hammer and sickle as proof!
Sure, Doug! That’s fascinating. I mentioned I wanted my paranoid musings to be erotic from now on and you bring up sickles?
I’m pretty adventurous, but razor sharp curved instuments are WAY out of my league.
And I’ve had it with Krazy Kennedy Konspiracy.
Fat ghost. Definitely the fat ghost.
Whoops, I see the Ks now!
They’re the angled red-and-white pattern on the front, the back, and the bottom of the pack!
Whew, that’s pretty creative on the conspiracy-theorists’ part. Kudos!
Uke
These conspiracy nuts are very creative. My friend’s reasoning was:
P.M. USA has traditionally been run by rich-southern-plantation-living-slave-owning white folk.
The company has a snotty upper-class crest.
The crest has two Klansmen depicted holding the corporate banner.
They even had the nerve to put three Ks on the package for all to see.
They must hate black folk.
Ban P.M.
Kill whitey!!!
Ya like Malboro racist conspiracy theories? Chew on this:
Take one pack of Malboros. Turn it upside-down. Look at the “Marboro” logo upside down. What does it spell? ojoqljew. But with a great deal of imagination it spells orobljew, which pronounced phonetically is “Horrible Jew”. Further proof!
“The world ends when I die. And as far as I’m concerned, the rest of the universe might as well call it a day too.” – Matt Groening
“The company has a snotty upper-class crest.”
Since when has the Klan been snotty or upper class? I thought they were mostly pig-ignorant white trash!
Sake:
Don’t suppose your friend is named “Wilson Bryan Key?”
Flora: You’d be surprised. Much of the supremist elite are also on the social register - a lot of old money there. It’s a bit naive to assume they’re all trailer park trash.
Although it’s not a bit naive to say they’re all full of shit.
Mjollnir: Enlighten me - I presume he’s a crackpot?
My Marlboro pack has been whispering to me all morning, but I’m NOT going to listen to it!
Oh, heck, that didn’t work–just plug it into the amazon search.
He imagines all sorts of images in advertising.
Cecil addressed some of his ideas in “More of the Straight Dope.”
I first came across his “Subliminal Seduction” book when I was 18, and even at that naive age–I saw he was nuts (or at least possessing an overly active imagination–or just trying to sell books).
Mj
Are you trying to get dragonfly99 cranked up again?
{Warning: yet ANOTHER obscure book review from the pedantic Ukulele Ike, on the subject of claas warfare among White Supremacists}
George Schuyler’s BLACK NO MORE (1931): a very funny satiric novel about an African-American scientist who develops a process to turn black people into white people.
Schuyler rips into, among other targets, the Klan, the Federal Government, and the “talented tenth” of the African-American community.
While he’s somewhat gentle with most of his subjects…the lowbrow racists and snooty Harlem Renaissance-type blacks receive only mild spankings…Schuyler reserves his greatest loathing for the upper-crust, old Southern aristocrat racists. The representatives of this social class end up mutilated and lynched.
Kinda spoils the rollicking good humor at the end there, but hey, I didn’t say it was a literary classic. Well worth reading, though.
Klansmen? Klansmen?
It should be obvious that those white spaces are intended to represent Rosicrucians.
Obviously, a disinformation campaign on their part to distract us from the real plans of the Secret Masters.
“Kings die, and leave their crowns to their sons. Shmuel HaKatan took all the treasures in the world, and went away.”
Hah, good stories folks. I have one, and this is true. When Wizards of the Coast originally put out Magic: The Gathering, the popular card collecting game, in booster packs, those packs were proven to be translucent. You can see what cards were inside when you hold a booster pack up in the store light. You can shift the cards until you can see the fourth one; that is the rare card. Now I know how Jon Finkel managed to get all of the good cards he plays. (Seriously, he is an outstanding player.) Anyway, in late 1998, they produced new aluminun-lined booster packs so that no one can possibly see through them.
Oh by the way, 7734 is the **real ** number to look out for.
http://www.snopes.com/business/alliance/marlboro.htm
Read the link- it covers the subject quite well.
andygirl, the urban legend scholar.