Morley

Good old Morley, The original incarnation of Morley

Red Morley, the second incarnation of Morley

Morley Lights, the third incarnation of Morley

Type

Cigarette brand

Owner(s)

Earl Hays Press prop company

Featured in

Psycho and many subsequent TV shows and films

“More doctors smoke Morleys than any other cigarette [By Nationwide Survey]”

―Morley slogan

Morley is a fake cigarette brand based on Marlboro cigarettes, with the name "Morley" coming from Marlboro's nickname "Marley". They originate from the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho and have appeared in various TV shows, films and even video games since then.

Overview

As the Morley brand simply exists to be a copyright-free fake substitute brand for real cigarettes, its not actually part of any fictional story outside of The X-Files. As such, this overview only covers its real world history and that which is shown in The X-Files. [A brief history on Morley]

Real History

Morleys were originally created at the Earl Hays Press prop house company in Hollywood, California, one of the oldest prop companies in America dating all the way back to the early 1900's and they serve as the main supplier of Morleys for almost every major studio in Hollywood, hence the prop's frequent appearances in media rather than it being due to the erroneous belief that there is an inter-studio writing collaboration or shared continuity between shows as so many often mistakenly believe. Morleys were not the only fake brand of cigarettes created by Earl Hays Press, with similar fake brands among their collection existing, including Wellesley and Royal cigarettes, and there are even variations on the Morley packaging, such as red box Morleys, green box Morleys, gold box Morley Light, etc. and other designs to make them resemble other familiar cigarette brands while still retaining the name "Morley". [A brief history on Morley]

The reason Morleys were created was to avoid copyright infringement, as only shows that were sponsored by a cigarette brand's parent company were allowed to use an official brand, hence the need for the creation of Morley, with it making its debut in the 1960 film Psycho and becoming further popularized in 1960's television shows like Twilight Zone and Naked City. Morleys would eventually be mostly phased out during the 1970's and 1980's when the US government officially banned smoking ads and the promotion of cigarettes from television and radio, resulting in Morley becoming a rare sight for over 20 years, even in films which now exclusively used real cigarette brands due to the loss of ad space for cigarette companies. Despite this, Morley would become a rather infamous sight in the popular 1990's television series The X-Files where it was featured more frequently than in other shows and even played an actual role in the plot with characters actually clashing with the brand's fictional parent company, and this popularization would result in some future appearances for Morley being references to its appearance on The X-Files. Morleys would eventually make a major return to film and television starting in 1999 following the passing of the Master Settlement Agreement in 1998 which finally banned all cigarette promotions in media, including films, forcing studios to rely mostly on Early Hays Press's Morleys and other cigarette brands for all of their TV shows and films, causing Morleys to become the most frequently used fake brand of cigarettes in TV and film. [A brief history on Morley]

Although real cigarette brands can be used in fiction now so long as they're not paid ads officially sponsored by real cigarette companies, studios still prefer the usage of Morleys as using real cigarettes carries the risk of lawsuits from viewers who would seek to blame a studio for seemingly promoting smoking or by the cigarette companies themselves who would not approve of their product being used in a defamatory manner, such as usage by a villain. With the rise of Morleys in fiction, its become an inside joke within Earl Hays Press to remind viewers that what they're seeing is fake and is just studios and actors playing with props. [A brief history on Morley]

The X-Files History

Morley is a global multi-billion dollar tobacco corporation which has tangled with FBI agents Mulder and Scully, and even attempted to subpoena their files when it proved unfavorable for their business after it was discovered that their cigarettes were infested with a mutant strain of tobacco beetles as a result of Morley trying to genetically alter their tobacco crops to be less harmful to humans, but instead had almost fatal results due to the new strain of beetles surviving the smoking process and laying eggs in the lungs of its victims. Two former Morley biochemists, Peter Voss and James Scobie of the Agricultural Research Division oversaw this project which resulted in the death of Scobie, which led to a series of events that nearly put Voss in jeopardy. Thankfully, his innocence was eventually proven and he later testified against Morley in court.

At the time of the company's introduction, other staff members included Daniel Brimley who served as the company's head of corporate security, an unnamed "Manager" who oversaw the front desk and attended to visitors at Morley HQ, an unnamed lawyer simply referred to as "Lead Counsel" served as the head of the legal department, and five other unnamed lawyers of the legal department who accompanied the Lead Counsel.

Morley was best known as the favorite cigarette brand of the antagonistic intelligence agent, Carl Gerhard Bush Spender, better known as the "Smoking Man" who was almost always seen smoking his beloved Morley cigarettes.

Appearances

Etruscan Morley

The original pack of Morley was a small white box that simply said "Morley cigarettes" in green letters and featured the symbol of the Etruscan horse as its official emblem on the front of the box. The original packaging had three variants which included a yellow box version, a larger "king sized" version of the white one, and a blue version of the king sized with red lettering. It was this Morley that would be used for much of the 20th century until the redesign in the mid 1990's which introduced a new design for the box that made it more closely resemble Marlboro's.

Psycho (1960) - At the end of the film, psychiatrist Dr. Fred Richman tells the story of what really happened and shakes a cigarette out of a pack of Morleys. This film was released June 16, 1960 and is currently the earliest known sighting of the Morley brand.
Naked City (1958) - First known appearance of Morleys on television occurred in Naked City in the 1961 episode "Tombstone for a Derelict".
The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) - In the 1961 episode "Sally is a Girl", Mrs. Sorrell gives a pack of Morley chocolate cigarettes to little Ritchie Petrie. This was the first instance that the brand was named outright by a character.
Experiment in Terror (1962) - A witness produces a pack while meeting with the FBI.
The Twilight Zone (1959) - First appearing in the 1963 episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", Mr. Robert Wilson (played by William Shatner) pulls out a pack of Morley cigarettes and almost lights one until his wife points out the 'No Smoking' sign illuminated on the plane. Several more appearances on The Twilight Zone would follow, mainly in "Living Doll", "In Praise of Pip", "The Thirty-Fathom Grave" and "Stopover in a Quiet Town", and these would become the most well known appearance of Morley until The X-Files in 1993.
Murderer's Row (1966) - A guard is seen smoking a Morley before being killed off, at which point the camera closes in on his pack of Morleys focusing on the warning label on the box. This would be the first appearance of Morley in color.
Mission: Impossible (1966) - In the 1967 episode "Operation 'Heart'".
Perry Mason (1957)
Mannix (1967) - In the 1969 episode "All Around the Money Tree".
The House on Greenapple Road (1970)
Platoon (1986)

Later Etruscan Morley appearances

Murder in the First (1995)
Friends "The One Where Rachel Smokes"
Seinfeld (1989) - "The Invitations"
Andrés Spinova's novel Marilyn y un par de Ases (2015)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000)

Red Morley

In the mid 1990's and onward, a new design for Morley's packaging was made by Earl Hays Press that more closely resembled the red Marlboro cigarette packaging, as well as a green variant based Marlboro's menthol cigarettes with the green packaging. This designed would become popularized by its frequent appearances on The X-Files, resulting in some viewers mistakenly believing that the brand originated there.