Early in its history, Red Man advertisements were
painted on the sides of barns, featuring an endorsement from baseball player
Nap Lajoie: "Lajoie chews Red Man, ask him if he don't." During the 1920s and 30s, the company sponsored a professional basketball team – the
Toledo Red Man Tobaccos. Marketing tie-ins with rural and outdoor sports have been a hallmark of the Red Man brand. From 1952 to 1955, Red Man produced a series of
baseball cards, the only tobacco company to do so after 1920. The sets are valuable due to the appearance of 25 of the top players of 1952–55, including
Stan Musial,
Yogi Berra and
Willie Mays. In 1982, Red Man launched its first TV advertising ever, produced by the ad agency
Benton & Bowles. This decision came after
Levi Garrett's aggressive entrance into the chewing tobacco market in the United States. Since then, the brand has sponsored competitive events including the "Red Man All-American Pulling Series", a
tractor pulling circuit, and the "Red Man All-American Bass Championship", a
fishing competition. In 1991, under pressure from the
Federal Trade Commission, which was enforcing a 1986 U.S. statute banning television ads for
smokeless tobacco, Red Man agreed to stop displaying its "product logo, selling message or the color or design of the tobacco product or its package" during televised coverage of the tractor pulls. ==Flavors and varieties==