What is Marlboro Friday?

Marlboro Friday marks the day that Philip Morris USA announced a 20% price cut to their Marlboro cigarettes in a bid to compete with generic cigarette makers.

Where have you heard about Marlboro Friday?

Marlboro Friday is commonly referred to as one of the most significant events of the 1990s business world. It marked a decline in sales for brands across the board in favour of non-branded competitors, and was labelled at the time the 'death of a brand' - a claim that later turned out to be false.

What you need to know about Marlboro Friday.

The reasons behind the Marlboro price cut are, to this day, hotly debated. Some see it as a desperate bid to claw back sales from increasingly successful competitors. Others see it as a strategy, in part, to eliminate the competition from other luxury and middle-market cigarette brands by forcing them to also cut their prices, resulting in the end of the price war.

After the announcement, stocks dropped by 26% and the company lost $10 million. Two years later, the company had recovered - and its competitors were priced out of the market.