And before long, thanks largely to its Marlboro brand, Philip Morris would dominate the world's cigarette business.

Philip Morris's Marlboro brand plans to support the team financially through 2011 under a deal signed last year.

And the Marlboro brand added 1.5 percent to its market share, moving to a record 33.5 percent of industry volume.

The decline reflected the company's decision last April to cut the price on its Marlboro brand in an effort to regain market share.

The Marlboro brand is still the best-selling Western product in what used to be the Soviet Union.

The market share of its Marlboro brand was up 3.5 percent compared with last year's second quarter.

The share of retail sales for the company's Marlboro brand rose 1.8 percentage points, to 35.2 percent.

Worldwide volume for the Marlboro brand was up 5.4 percent.

In addition, Philip Morris's Marlboro brand gained share last year.

The iconic, fictional brand resembles the actual, original Marlboro brand of cigarettes.