You’ve Come A Long Way Baby

In the post-World War II era, the baby boom generation came of age in the early 1960s, and with this generation came calls for the recognition of civil rights, including the rights of women. This second-wave feminism was seized on by advertisers who portrayed women as vivacious, stylish, and alluring who could have it all. Enter Virginia Slims, Philip Morris’ cigarette targetted at modern women. While Marlboro had begun as a women’s cigarette, it had been rebranded for men with the iconic Marlboro Man; and Philip Morris cigarettes was the brand many baby boomer’s mothers may have smoked. Virginia Slims billed itself as “The Cigarette That’s Her’s Alone.”