Analysts called it “Marlboro Friday”—Philip Morris announced on April 2, 1993 that it would reduce the U.S. price of its premium brand of cigarettes by 20%. The tobacco manufacturer also said it would increase the budget for its domestic advertising by a substantial amount. R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris’s biggest competitor, responded by matching the price cut on its own premium brands (Camel and Winston among them) and by pouring more money into its own domestic advertising.
A version of this article appeared in the May 2003 issue of Harvard Business Review.
