Former Winston Man Clears The Air Dave Goerlitz Tells Students Not To Start Smoking Habit

The man who was the rugged Winston cigarette man is now urging kids not to smoke.

Dave Goerlitz said his job during the seven-year stint as the Winston Man was to be “a live version of a G.I. Joe action figure.” Advertising executives told him his job was to get kids to start smoking, he said.

Now Goerlitz, 47, is targeting his anti-smoking message to those the Winston man stared out at from billboards, magazine glossies and even wall clocks.

Goerlitz told his story to students at Ucon and Fairview elementary schools Wednesday as part of the Bonneville School District’s Red Ribbon Week for drug prevention.

The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. commends Goerlitz’s efforts, but believes he is spreading lies, said Carole Crosslin, a public relations representative for R.J. Reynolds, which owns Winston.

Goerlitz was just one of several models, Crosslin said, and not privy to marketing strategies. The company discourages underage smoking, she said.

In 1981, he beat out 900 others for a coveted advertising assignment that earned him $100,000 for 26 days of work. A smoker since the age of 13, he had no moral conflicts about taking the job.

“The tobacco company knows that you are their new customers,” Goerlitz told the students. The tobacco industry spends $7 billion to reinforce its message, he said.

He showed students slides of his advertisements. The Marlboro man wears a cowboy hat and rides a horse. The Winston man climbed mountains and flew a helicopter.

“The other difference between the Marlboro man and myself is he’s dead,” he told students. The original Marlboro man died of lung cancer, and the first Winston cigarette model has had a lung removed.

Crosslin said Goerlitz is not protecting children, but simply padding his wallet with his speaking career. He asked the tobacco company to retain him as a lobbyist and when he was turned down, he started speaking out against it, she said. Goerlitz couldn’t be reached for comment.