As I was sorting through searches for estate pipes on eBay, I saw a picture of an ashtray with a locomotive surrounded by the words, “Marlboro Unlimited”. I’m interested in trains and tobacciana so I delved further into the origins of this ashtray.
It turns out that back in the mid 1990s Phillip Morris came up with the idea of a contest where smokers could win a five day luxury train excursion through the storied land of “Marlboro Country”. The trip would include stops between Phoenix, Arizona and Cheyenne, Wyoming for white water rafting, horseback riding and the like. The 21 custom built rail cars included areas for gambling, concerts, movies and dancing. One car was even equipped with hot tubs.
Problems arose when the cars were found to exceed weight limits and other measurements required by law to run on Amtrac administered railways. It was also required that if the Marlboro logo was going to be painted on the locomotive or anywhere else on the train that the Surgeon General’s warning would also have to be included. It was feared that nobody would want to ride the “Cancer Train”. The logo was left off.
Cost overruns and delays eventually led to the cancellation of the project after millions of dollars were spent. The locomotives (two of them) were sold off and the cars were all demolished. The 1000 or so contest winners were all paid off in cash, about $6000.00.
So what I have now is probably an ashtray made for use on that train, the ill fated Marlboro Unlimited. It’s not a rare or expensive item. It does look sort of nice sitting here on my desk even though it is a remembrance of marketing folly and failure. Here’s the seller's picture:
You can view a slick promotional video commercial of the proposed trip here:
Marlboro Unlimited Video
I'm probably one of the few interested in stuff like this, but if you are as well you can search for "Marlboro Unlimited" and find a lot of interesting information such as the minutes from the marketing department meetings where potential problems with the project were discussed ranging from how to deal with anti-smoking protesters at the stops and how to respond to fires started by people smoking in bed.
It turns out that back in the mid 1990s Phillip Morris came up with the idea of a contest where smokers could win a five day luxury train excursion through the storied land of “Marlboro Country”. The trip would include stops between Phoenix, Arizona and Cheyenne, Wyoming for white water rafting, horseback riding and the like. The 21 custom built rail cars included areas for gambling, concerts, movies and dancing. One car was even equipped with hot tubs.
Problems arose when the cars were found to exceed weight limits and other measurements required by law to run on Amtrac administered railways. It was also required that if the Marlboro logo was going to be painted on the locomotive or anywhere else on the train that the Surgeon General’s warning would also have to be included. It was feared that nobody would want to ride the “Cancer Train”. The logo was left off.
Cost overruns and delays eventually led to the cancellation of the project after millions of dollars were spent. The locomotives (two of them) were sold off and the cars were all demolished. The 1000 or so contest winners were all paid off in cash, about $6000.00.
So what I have now is probably an ashtray made for use on that train, the ill fated Marlboro Unlimited. It’s not a rare or expensive item. It does look sort of nice sitting here on my desk even though it is a remembrance of marketing folly and failure. Here’s the seller's picture:
You can view a slick promotional video commercial of the proposed trip here:
Marlboro Unlimited Video
I'm probably one of the few interested in stuff like this, but if you are as well you can search for "Marlboro Unlimited" and find a lot of interesting information such as the minutes from the marketing department meetings where potential problems with the project were discussed ranging from how to deal with anti-smoking protesters at the stops and how to respond to fires started by people smoking in bed.
