Winston is an American brand of cigarettes and a sponsor that featured characters from The Flintstones during its original run.
Controversy[]
In 1960, Winston was one of the original sponsors of the original series, The Flintstones up until 1962. In the commercials, the series' characters Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble were seen promoting Winston, and every episode of the first and second seasons ended with Fred lighting a Winston for his wife Wilma while singing the product's jingle. By the third season, however, the show's ads became more oriented towards children and Winston was replaced by Welch's after their daughter Pebbles Flintstone was born in 1963.
Aside from cigarette commercials being banned since 1971 (which already made this outdated), nowadays seeing familiar characters lighting up could confuse and surprise newcomers. Also, while The Flintstones were considered family-friendly characters, the show was originally targeted toward an adult audience (but it was still appropriate for kids), so it may come off to some people that family-friendly characters are smoking.