View source for Philip Morris USA

{{Short description|American tobacco company}}
{{intro too short|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox company
| name          = Philip Morris USA
| logo          = File:Philip Morris USA Logo.svg
| logo_alt      = The word "PhilipMorrisUSA" in a blue font
| logo_size     = 250
| logo_caption  =
| image         = 
| image_size    = 
| image_caption = 
| type          = [[Subsidiary]]
| area_served   = [[United States]]
| key_people    =
| industry      = [[Tobacco industry|Tobacco]]
| products      = [[Cigarette]]s
| brands        = {{plainlist|
* [[Marlboro (cigarette)|Marlboro]]
* [[Chesterfield (cigarette)|Chesterfield]]
* L&M
* Philip Morris
* [[Virginia Slims]]
* [[Merit (cigarette)|Merit]]
* [[Parliament (cigarette)|Parliament]]
* Alpine
* [[Basic (cigarette)|Basic]]
* [[Cambridge (cigarette)|Cambridge]]
* Bucks
* Dave's
}}
| num_employees    = 
| parent           = [[Altria|Altria Group]]
| subsid           =
| footnotes        = 
| foundation       = {{start date and age |1902}}
| founders         =
| location_city    = [[Richmond, Virginia]]
| location_country = [[United States]]
}}
'''Philip Morris USA''' is the American [[tobacco]] division of the American tobacco corporation [[Altria|Altria Group]].

== History ==
=== Creation ===
[[File:Philip Morris tobacconist.jpg|thumb|Philip Morris]]
The company's namesake [[Philip Morris (tobacconist)|Philip Morris]] was born in [[Whitechapel]], United Kingdom in 1835, the son of a recent immigrant from Germany who had taken the name Bernard Morris.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1600207/six-degrees|title=Six degrees|website=scmp.com|date=28 September 2014|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> In 1847, the family opened a shop in [[London]]. The first cigarettes that Philip Morris made were in 1854 and were known as "Philip Morris English Ovals," a non-filter brand of oval-shaped cigarettes that were manufactured in very limited quantities until discontinuation in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.altria.com/en/cms/About_Altria/At_A_Glance/Our_History/default.aspx?src=top_nav|title=Our History – Altria: 1800–1900|publisher=altria.com|access-date=2020-11-10|archive-date=2013-02-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211233000/http://www.altria.com:80/en/cms/About_Altria/At_A_Glance/Our_History/default.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Early years ===
In 1902, Philip Morris & Co. Ltd. was [[Incorporation (business)|incorporated]] in New York City. George J. Whelan bought the American division of the company in 1919 and created Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc., along with fellow shareholders Reuben M. Ellis and Leonard B. McKitterick.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Martin|first1=Jonathan|last2=Shelton|first2=Pamela L.|title=Philip Morris Companies Inc|url=https://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/documentstore/n/z/m/m//nzmm0177/nzmm0177.pdf|website=Industry Documents Digital Library|publisher=University of California, San Francisco|access-date=July 24, 2015}}</ref>

In 1929, the company made its first cigarettes in Richmond, using an existing factory the company purchased. In 1933, this factory was racially [[Racial integration|integrated]] more than 30 years before the law required it. In 1938, the company offered [[preferred stock]] to ordinary buyers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.altria.com/en/cms/About_Altria/At_A_Glance/Our_History/default.aspx?src=top_nav|title=Our History – Altria: 1900–1950|publisher=altria.com|access-date=2010-09-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921095854/http://www.altria.com/en/cms/About_Altria/At_A_Glance/Our_History/default.aspx?src=top_nav|archive-date=2017-09-21|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Philip Morris Ads.JPG|thumb|Philip Morris advertisement, portrayed by [[Johnny Roventini]]]]

In 1924, Philip Morris began advertising Marlboros specifically to women. The cigarettes had "new cork-tip filters housed in a flip-top box with a red roof design."<ref name=hist1951>{{Cite web|url=http://www.altria.com/en/cms/About_Altria/At_A_Glance/Our_History/default.aspx?src=top_nav|title=Our History – Altria: 1951–2000|publisher=altria.com|access-date=2010-09-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921095854/http://www.altria.com/en/cms/About_Altria/At_A_Glance/Our_History/default.aspx?src=top_nav|archive-date=2017-09-21|url-status=dead}}</ref>
===Radio and television sponsorship===
In 1933, the company and its advertising agency, [[Milton Biow]], searched for a "living trademark" to represent their brand, and chose [[Johnny Roventini]], a [[midget]] [[bellhop]] at the [[Hotel New Yorker]]. Roventini called out the catchphrase "Call for Philip Morris!" in live appearances, and on the radio. The Philip Morris-backed radio programs, including, ''[[It Pays to Be Ignorant]]'', ''[[The Kate Smith Hour]]'' and ''[[This Is Your Life (American franchise)|This Is Your Life]]'', all began with the phrase "Johnny presents", and Roventini's "Call for Philip Morris!"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cross |first1=Mary |title=A Century of American Icons: 100 Products and Slogans from the 20th-Century Consumer Culture |date=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0313314810  |access-date=4 September 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/centuryofamerica00cros/page/87/ |pages=87–88}}</ref>

From 1951 to 1955, Philip Morris sponsored the CBS sitcom "[[I Love Lucy]]", with [[Lucille Ball]] and [[Desi Arnaz]] pitching the product often, and Philip Morris controlling the content of the program. In 1955, Philip Morris became an alternate sponsor with [[Procter & Gamble]], eventually bowing out altogether by the end of that year.

=== Acquisitions ===
In 1970, Philip Morris made the first of several acquisitions with the purchase of [[Miller Brewing Company]]. In 1985, Philip Morris Companies Inc. became a [[holding company]] and the parent of Philip Morris Inc. and bought [[General Foods]]. The acquisition of [[Kraft Foods]] came in 1988, after which Kraft and General Foods became Kraft General Foods.<ref name=hist1951/>

Although it had begun investing in the homebuilder by 1969, Philip Morris purchased Southern California's Mission Viejo Company in its entirety for $52 million during 1972. Philip Morris continued to hold on to this investment until 1997, finally selling the division off to J.F. Shea Company.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-aug-02-mn-18701-story.html|title=Philip Morris Agrees to Sell Mission Viejo Co.|date=August 2, 1997|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
  
In the 1970s, in response to smokers’ health concerns, Philip Morris introduced the “Light” cigarette - which was later found to be no safer than any others.<ref name=Cancer.gov>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/tobacco/light-cigarettes-fact-sheet=top_nav |title="Light" Cigarettes and Cancer Risk|publisher=National Cancer Institute|access-date=2016-05-20}}</ref>

In 1976, Marlboro became the leading brand in the U.S.; Morris operated as the largest seller of tobacco in the U.S. and the second-largest in the world.

In 2001, Kraft Foods launched an initial public offering (IPO) for 11.1% of the company that took in $8.7 billion, making it the second-largest IPO in American history at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://business.time.com/2012/02/02/the-11-largest-ipos-in-u-s-history/slide/kraft-foods/ | magazine=Time | title=The 11 Largest Ipos In U.S. History | date=2012-02-02}}</ref>

In 2002, Miller Brewing and South African Breweries became [[SABMiller]], the second-largest maker of [[beer]] in the world, though Philip Morris kept an interest in the merged company.

=== Altria ===
On January 27, 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. changed its name to Altria Group, Inc.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.altria.com/en/cms/About_Altria/At_A_Glance/Our_History/default.aspx?src=top_nav|title=Our History – Altria: 2001–Present|publisher=altria.com|access-date=2010-09-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921095854/http://www.altria.com/en/cms/About_Altria/At_A_Glance/Our_History/default.aspx?src=top_nav|archive-date=2017-09-21|url-status=dead}}</ref> Even under this new name, Altria continues to own 100% of Philip Morris USA (abbreviated PM USA). 

In the fall of 2003, Philip Morris USA moved its headquarters from [[New York City]] to Richmond, Virginia. On March 30, 2007, the remaining 88.9% stake in Kraft Foods was spun off to shareholders.<ref>http://investor.altria.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=80855&p=irol-faq_kraft_tkd {{dead link|date=September 2021}}</ref> [[Philip Morris International]] was split from Philip Morris USA in March 2008.  This has caused a drop in the needed cigarette production due to no need for export product.  Philip Morris shut down its [[Concord, North Carolina]], manufacturing facility in 2010 and moved all domestic production to Richmond, which now contains the largest Philip Morris plant in the world, producing 146 billion cigarettes in 2010.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2011-050338 |pmid=22345227 |title=The history of the discovery of the cigarette–lung cancer link: Evidentiary traditions, corporate denial, global toll |journal=Tobacco Control |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=87–91 |year=2012 |last1=Proctor |first1=Robert N. |doi-access=free }}</ref>

In 2010, the FDA banned the use of “Light” for ventilated cigarettes because it misrepresented the products as a healthier cigarette, and Philip Morris switched to using colors to brand them to circumvent the rule.<ref name="ibtimes">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/cigarette-companies-sidestep-light-ban-colored-packaging-long-history-deception-1125385|title=Cigarette Companies Sidestep 'Light' Ban With Colored Packaging: 'A Long History Of Deception'=International Business Times | website=[[International Business Times]] |access-date=2016-05-20|date=2013-03-14 }}</ref>

== Brands ==
Philip Morris USA brands include [[Marlboro (cigarette)|Marlboro]], [[Virginia Slims]], [[Benson & Hedges]], [[Merit (cigarette)|Merit]], [[Parliament (cigarette)|Parliament]], Alpine, [[Basic (cigarette)|Basic]], [[Cambridge (cigarette)|Cambridge]], Bucks, Dave's, [[Chesterfield (cigarette)|Chesterfield]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.altria.com/About-Altria/our-companies/philipmorrisusa/our-products-and-ingredients/Pages/default.aspx|title=Our Products & Ingredients|website=www.altria.com}}</ref> Collector's Choice, Commander, [[Lark (cigarette)|Lark]], [[L&M]], Players. As of the 27 of December, 2018, Philip Morris also owns a minority stake in [[JUUL]].

== IQOS ==
At the completion of the Philip Morris review, about 30% of the company's revenue is currently consumed from "smokeless" products such as the IQOS tobacco warmer. The company's management claims that by 2025 this figure will reach 50%<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Afanasieva|first1=Dasha|last2=Cavale|first2=Siddharth|date=2021-12-03|title=Philip Morris CEO does not need M&A to hit smoke free goals|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/philip-morris-ceo-does-not-need-ma-hit-smoke-free-goals-2021-12-02/|access-date=2022-01-27}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Altria]]
* [[Marlboro (cigarette)|Marlboro]]
* [[Marlboro Friday]]
* [[Philip Morris International]]
* [[Racketeering]] (U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler found the company and parent company [[Altria]] guilty of the crime in 2006)<ref>{{cite news| url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/BUSINESS/08/17/tobacco.ruling/ | work=CNN | title=CNN.com - Judge finds tobacco racketeering - Aug 17, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tobacco-court-idUSTRE75079R20110601 | work=Reuters | first=Diane | last=Bartz | title=U.S. judge declines to shut tobacco racketeering case | date=2011-06-01}}</ref>
* [[Johnny Roventini]] (spokesperson & "living trademark")
* [[Tobacco industry]]
* [[Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* {{official}}

{{Altria}}
{{Philip Morris International}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philip Morris Usa}}
[[Category:Altria Group subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Richmond, Virginia]]
[[Category:Tobacco companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Philip Morris USA| ]]