Marlboro Man
The Marlboro Man is a figure used in tobacco advertising campaigns for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by Leo Burnett in 1954. The images initially featured rugged men portrayed in a variety of roles but later primarily featured a rugged cowboy or cowboys, in picturesque wild terrain. The advertisements were originally conceived as a way to popularize filtered cigarettes, which at the time were considered feminine.
Team Penske
Cigarette brand Marlboro had been a sponsor with Team Penske since the 1989 Indianapolis 500, and primary sponsor of all Team Penske IndyCars since 1991. Late in 2005, Team Penske announced that Marlboro would not appear on the cars any longer in accordance with the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement restricting cigarette advertising by name. In 2007, the IndyCar Series cars began to carry "Team Penske" insignia and sponsorship from Mobil 1 (although the cars remained painted in the Marlboro color scheme—in Formula 1 the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has a similar set up). For 2009, Verizon Wireless, joined Exxon Mobil as associate sponsors, and the team was billed as Verizon Championship Racing. The third car was driven by Will Power, originally a substitute for Castroneves, carried the No. 12 and featured primary sponsorship of both Verizon Wireless brand and Roger Penske's truck rental business.