Which company was the original sponsor for "I Love Lucy"?

CBS was getting desperate, but all they needed was someone willing to take a chance on what most advertisers saw as a risky proposition. Lucy and Desi had this brilliant show concept, but sponsor after sponsor kept turning them down because of their mixed-race marriage. When Philip Morris cigarettes finally agreed to sponsor the series, they got significant influence over the content and plenty of product placement throughout episodes. Lucy and Desi appeared in commercial segments before and during shows, and the characters smoked cigarettes regularly on screen. Their tiny spokesman Johnny Roventini became a fixture, opening episodes in his bellhop costume while shouting "Call for Philip Morris." Ironically, Lucille Ball actually despised Philip Morris cigarettes and preferred smoking Chesterfields, but when company representatives caught her with the wrong brand on set, she started smuggling her preferred cigarettes in Philip Morris packages.