Marlboro Friday refers to April 2, 1993, when Philip Morris announced a 20% price cut to their Marlboro cigarettes to fight back against generic competitors, which were increasingly eating into their market share. Since the Marlboro man was an image that stood since 1954, it was considered one of the biggest marketing icons, investors reasoned that to see the Marlboro icon give in to a price war, the marketing itself must be ineffective. As a result of plummeting stock value in major American brands, 1993 marked a slight decrease in U.S. ad expenditures.