Created by the company Liggett & Myers in 1953, L&M is a brand of cigarettes produced by Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc.). "L&M" is one of the earliest, perhaps the earliest brand to have a filter that was not a one sided filter. When the "L&M" brand was launched, their motto was American cigarettes of the highest quality with the best filter. When their success in the American market was solidified, Liggett Group made a proposal to take the "L&M" international. The brand is popular in Latin America, central and northern Europe, the Arab World and the far east and south Asia. They were not very common in the continental US until a new roll out made them available in October 2007, and are still not very popular in the United Kingdom. According to the information of the independent agency of field investigation "Business Analytics", the second quarter of 2007, Phillip Morris brands took the first place in 25 Russian cities with a market share of 29.92%.