Who’s THIS guy with the glasses, shelves of books, and a tat on his hand? That’s not The Marlboro Man. The Marlboro Man wears a cowboy hat and has a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. He’s wincing into the sun with crow’s feet and leathered skin but yet ruggedly handsome, despite the huge probability of melanoma. I’m going to have to take a pass on 1957 Marlboro Man.
I Don't Get It 
That close to Halloween, perhaps the ad was meant to scare people into smoking. 😉
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Nice detective work!
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I agree. This guy is a fraud.
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Interesting naval aviation tattoo on his hand.
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I was wondering if it was real.
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It definitely doesn’t look right as far as shading and contrast to the rest of the image.
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I did a sketch of the Marlboro Man when I was back in high school – and this sure wasn’t him!
(I think I still have that sketch somewhere too)
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That would be great if you still have it.
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Well, he’s got ink — and pretty prominently displayed — probably unusual for back in that day. So maybe he’s a rugged individualist in sheep’s clothing. Could also be this is his corporate persona before he chucked it all and moved out west to rope cows, and maybe the cig company decided they needed to document his journey. Lots of questions! 🙂
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I admit that’s the only advertisement I’ve seen from this era including a tattoo. I figured he was a veteran. Maybe those books were teaching him how to prepare to go rope cows like you say.
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