The brand was sold in this capacity until World War II when the brand faltered and was temporarily removed from the market. At the end of the war, three brands emerged that would establish a firm hold on the cigarette market: Camel, Lucky Strike, and Chesterfield. These brands were supplied to US soldiers during the war, creating an instant market upon their return. But Marlboro, when reintroduced with marketing that tapped into the new popularity of the romanticized cowboy in the 1950s, was able to increase sales by 5000%, returning as a formidable market force.

During the same era Reader's Digest magazine published a series of articles that linked smoking with lung cancer. Philip Morris, and the other cigarette companies took notice and each began to market filtered cigarettes. The new Marlboro with a filtered tip was launched in 1955. The brand is named after Great Marlborough Street, the location of its original London factory. Richmond, Virginia, is now the location of the largest Marlboro cigarette manufacturing plant.

• The width of the diagonal lines of the Marlboro "shape" on cigarette packs is exactly equal to the width of a standard book of matches.
• As of July 25, 2006, the Rothman, Benson and Hedges company released a similar proprietary brand of cigarettes into the Canada market under the label Rooftop, distinguished by the use of the Rooftop package design found in Canada in the 1950s. The Rooftop design is presently owned by a predecessor company to Philip Morris USA and now owned in Canada by Philip Morris Products SA. The company is unable to release the product under the Marlboro brand as neither Philip Morris Products, SA, its affiliates or Rothman Benson Hedges has any rights to the Marlboro brand name in Canada. The cigarette was available in three varieties: Rooftop Reds (comparable to Marlboro Filter), Rooftop Gold (Marlboro Lights) and Rooftop Silver (Marlboro Extra Light). All cigarettes were issued in King Size.
• Marlboro cigarettes burn an estimated 25% faster than other top-selling premium brands such as Camel, Winston, Dunhill, and Player's. Philip Morris uses re-constituted sheet tobacco and processed stems as well as chemicals such as formaldehyde and ammonia [3] to fill the cigarettes. All of the above are reasons for Marlboro burning more rapidly.
• In the 1980s an urban myth spread throughout the United States and even Europe, that Marlboro packaging carried imagery related to the Ku Klux Klan. The myth held that the Klan owned all, or a major part of, the Philip Morris company, and that Philip Morris himself was involved with the organization. And the symbols on the sides of the Marlboro represented 'K,K,K', as well as Marlboro upside down being seen, by some, to read 'Orobl Jew'. Also, when the Marlboro pack is upside down, as you cover the top half of the letters, you can alledgedly see an image portraying a man and a midget being hung. These allegations are unfounded - indeed to own even 1% of the company would require over $500 m, and Philip Morris was a British tobacco merchant.