Was Marathon Cigarettes Brand Really ‘Official’ Cigarette of 1984 Olympics? Exploring Viral Rumor

Online rumors are surfacing that the tobacco-based brand Marathon is the "official cigarette of the 1984 Olympics."

By Blesson Daniel

Published on Aug 04, 2024 | 08:18 PM IST | 77K

1984 Olympics [Credit-X]

As the 2024 Paris Olympics began, internet claims about the Games proliferated on social media, including the idea that a brand of cigarettes named Marathon had aired a TV advertisement claiming to be the "official cigarette of the 1984 Olympics."

The story dates back at least to 2021 when a snapshot of the alleged 1984 ad was circulated on 9GAG and Imgur. The image was reposted on Reddit and Instagram in 2022.

Shirley Ito, a librarian at the LA84 Foundation, which hosts the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics archives, confirmed to Snopes that Marathon and no other cigarette brand were listed as official sponsors, suppliers, or licensees in the 1984 Official Report.

As a result, we rated this claim "False." Snopes also examined the advertisement's origins, but we were unable to identify whether it was genuine or where it aired.

Many businesses, particularly those that offered tobacco products, have frequently connected themselves with the Olympic Games for marketing purposes. We discovered that tobacco businesses have a long history of involvement with the Olympic Games, and sponsored content from corporations such as Camel did feature in the 1984 Olympics.

However, Dr. Robert Jackler, the principal investigator of the Stanford Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising at the Stanford University School of Medicine, an interdisciplinary research group that analyzes the effects of tobacco advertising, including during events like the Olympics, sent historical information confirming that the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games had "no official tobacco sponsors."

The International Olympic Committee said that 34 corporations "made financial and value-in-kind" donations to the 1984 Games, none of which were tobacco companies. Even yet, "tobacco companies still maintained a connection to the Games through advertising channels," according to an unpublished report submitted to Snopes by Jackler that looked into the relationship between the tobacco business and the Olympics.

According to the material Jackler supplied us, several cigarette manufacturers conducted advertising campaigns related to the 1984 Olympics. Although the Marathon brand was not on the list, cigarettes from Camel, Lucky Strike, Carlton, Merit, and Salem were.

For example, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company created a Camel Olympic Scoreboard, which was published in the Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated, "to further associate the Brand with sports."

Similarly, the American Tobacco Company developed an Olympic Sweepstakes Program for Lucky Strike cigarettes, with the ultimate prize being an all-expenses-paid trip to that year's Games. To be eligible for the draw, customers had to purchase all three varieties of Lucky Strike Filters. The Sweepstakes Program was promoted in famous American periodicals such as Time, Sports Illustrated, TV Guide, and Newsweek.

According to SRITA (Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising), tobacco advertising first appeared at the Olympics in 1920, typically in official programs or starring Olympic participants.

Many of these promoted the concept that cigarettes helped sportsmen live healthy lives. Cigarette advertising in the Olympic Games peaked in the 1970s and 1980s but quickly went out of favor as the health risks of smoking became more widely understood.

On April 7, 1984, The Associated Press released an interview with Dan Greenwood, the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee's vice president of sponsorships at the time. The report emphasized a shift in Olympic exclusive sponsorships granted to certain companies permitted to "carry the five-ringed Olympic symbol on their products."

The journal identified several businesses that supported the Games, but none of them were tobacco companies. Snopes previously highlighted cigarette advertising that did not use the official Olympic emblem.

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