Joseph Cullman
Joseph F. Cullman (April 9, 1912 – April 30, 2004) was an American businessman, CEO of Philip Morris Company from 1957 to 1978 and tennis aficionado. During his tenure as CEO, the Philip Morris brand Marlboro became the most popular brand of cigarette in the United States.[1] Described as "the cigarette industry’s chief defender against the antitobacco movement",[2] he oversaw the creation of the successful Marlboro Man campaign from the 1950s onwards which has since become known as an icon of American TV advertising. In a now notorious 1971 television interview on the American current affairs program Face the Nation, in response to a recently published study on the large numbers of undersized babies born to pregnant female smokers he declared "I concluded from that report that it's true that babies born from women who smoke are smaller, but they are just as healthy as the babies born to women who do not smoke. Some women would prefer having smaller babies."[3]
Away from the tobacco industry he had a great interest in tennis, serving as chairman of the US Open at Forest Hills in 1969 and 1970 and as both president and chairman of the International Tennis Hall of Fame from 1982 to 1988, into which he was inducted in 1990.[4]
References
- ↑ Adam Bernstein, "Philip Morris Chief Joseph Cullman Dies", The Washington Post, May 3, 2004 (online at highbeam.com)
- ↑ "Joseph Cullman III, 92; Made Philip Morris a Power", Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2004
- ↑ "Joseph F. Cullman III", NNDB
- ↑ "Joseph F. Cullman, 3rd" at the International Tennis Hall of Fame