Marlboro still uses Julian date code system on their cigarette packs. The code printed on bottom of pack should have a letter, then a 3 digit Julian date, followed by a letter, then a number which is the last number of the year manufactured. This should be "0" for cigarettes produced in 2010. If it is "9" you are buying cigarettes from last year, likely stale unless vacuum sealed in freezer storage, which is unlikely.
Local retailers are presently selling Marlboro "Red" soft packs with Julian dates of 282 from last year, produced 7 months ago. After inquiring I found they also have more recent Julian dates from a couple of months back. I refuse to pay full price for cigarettes produced last year, and offer this info so others do the same to avoid a stale product.
Years ago I was told, by a Marlboro quality department employee, that the "average shelf-life" for cigarettes is 3 months, depending on storage conditions. At that time their company would admit selling an old, inferior product, and replace them freely. This is no longer the case.
Now their employees are trained to deny this and claim staleness of cigarettes is "objective", while the whole time avoiding the issue, which is that their product is being sold at full retail price despite the fact that it is far outdated, and so stale (from an objective point of view.)
Check the date code on the bottom of your Marlboro cigarettes BEFORE buying, and if the Julian date is in the 2 or 300's, with a "9" following the letter "Y" or "Z", DO NOT BUY unless your wish to pay full retail for stale cigarettes.