Editorial: Why All the Hate?
There has been a disturbing trend lately, a trend that started a few years ago, but has seemed to increase in ferocity recently…
I am talking, of course, about Haters.
Specifically, I am talking about cigar smokers who hate specific brands of cigars, for doing nothing more than (GASP!) marketing their products. The hatred seems to be rampant online, with many self proclaimed disciples decrying the “destruction of a once fine hobby”, the “selling out of cigars” and other such hyperbolic comments…
The anger seemed to come to a head right around the month of October, which also happens to be when Tatuaje Cigars released it’s annual Halloween themed cigar (last year was the Drac, this year will be Leatherface). More and more people were (and are) decrying Tatuaje’s Pete Johnson’s and other companies marketing tactics, with some BOTLs even going so far as to say he is “single handily destroying the industry”…
What total and complete B.S.
As I am sure most of you are aware, marketing your products has been around ever since the first person on earth figured out that he/she could get something they wanted in exchange for something they had…And it does not stop there. Marketing is a part of our lives, indeed, a part of our very civilization, and it seems to me that a few of the “New Breed” of cigar companies are taking advantage of it…
The interesting part of the conversation is that marketing of cigars is nothing new. Check out this magazine cigar ad from way back when…
(photo from http://retrozone.tumblr.com)
And this TV ad from the late ’60s (who doesn’t love Muriel?):
Now, having said all of that, I agree that sometimes marketing can go too far…Take the Classic example of Marketing Excess, Gurkha Cigars…They came on the scene in 1995 with the tagline “The Rolls Royce of Cigars”. Opulent packaging and overwhelming advertising rocketed them to success (in business, mind you), but it seems now that to everyone who knows even a little bit about cigars, they have become a joke in the industry…But think about this…how many cigar smokers FIRST real cigar is a Gurkha? Mine was…
Another thing I hear complaining about is all of the Limited Edition cigars that are being released…From Cain to Rocky Patel to Tatuaje to Habanos, the Limited Edition cigars have been released in ever expanding waves in the last few years, with many people pointing to this as a prime example of an industry on the downturn…But, I ask you, why do you think that? Just because a cigar manufacturer releases a LE cigar (let’s say, 200 boxes of a specific blend or vitola), does that mean you HAVE to buy it? Of course not. I for one want MORE LE cigars released, by ALL manufacturers…While they can be (admittedly) harder to keep track of, that means there are more cigars for me to try, more blends for me to love (or hate) and more importantly, more reason for more people to become cigar smokers…
Another advantage to the LE cigars is the fact that it is allowing cigar makers to try out new combinations and blends that would have otherwise NEVER been produced…Take for example, the Tatuaje SW Maduro (which I also named as my #1 Cigar of 2009)…Pete Johnson produced this Limited Edition cigar in tribute to a friend (who came up with the idea before he died) with all the money from the sales going to his family…Now, I think it is pretty cool that we have the chance to smoke a cigar that was basically produced solely in memory of a friend, and the sales of which actually went to a great cause…
Another example is the upcoming new Illusione Lancero in with both Maduro and Candela wrappers…The fact that they are releasing only a limited number of cigars allows them to experiment with combinations (when is the last time a Major cigar manufacturer made a cigar with at Candela wrapper?) that would have never seen the light of day…This means more choices for us, the consumer, and more choices are NEVER a bad thing…
That is not to say that there is not a downside to the above, of course…the ever expanding LE market CAN bring down the overall quality of a company’s products (I am looking at you Gurkha and Habanos!)…And the prices of an LE cigar can get out of control **cough** Cohiba Gran Reserva**Cough** But just the fact that a cigar manufacturer releases an LE cigar or pushes the envelope a bit with marketing is not a good reason to hate them or their products…
The Bottom Line? Cigar blenders (and even cigar marketers) are artists, and should be treated as such. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail, and sometimes they take it too far, but they should NEVER be derided for TRYING to do things a bit differently…after all, without evolution there is stagnation, and I think everyone can agree that is the LAST thing cigar lovers want in this day and age.
Not to hate on your thoughts or your blog. I really digg some of the reviews you do but in my honest opinion I feel they are biased. I feel you smoke the cigars that are advertised to you. Say you have alot of reviews on Tatuaje's,Liga's and Illusione. What I feel are the the 3 newer brands all advertising to the same demographic, and here you are as a"fan-boy" of such brands defending them. Tatuaje mainly, now Ive met Pete before and he's an averall nice character, I just feel he's pushing too much shit these days. I don't see what's the big deal about Tatuaje. Almost not a one has ever satisfied me, let alone impressed me. The brown labels have always been over-strong, full of pepper and nicotine and completely flavorless. The Havana VI was better than that, but uncomplex, strong and one-noted. The Series P was good - for the price, very good. Never bothered to try any of the Cojonus, tubos or other special releases - I never was one to drink the Kool Aid or try different flavors of pure crap.But I'm glad that Pete is a successful man and he's doing what he likes, its just sometimes hard to see the passion, and I guess that's what peoples true hate is on.
Holy lance maduro and candela? Sounds interesting to me! I say the indstry should go stagnent for about 3 years....until I have more money to buy whatever I want. :-)
Good Marketing is fine with me as long as you back it up with a good cigar. If I can afford it great, if not maybe the next one. There will be ALWAYS be a next one.
I will become a hater of a brand when they obviously change to an inferior blend, but still sell it as the same cigar. You run out of that leaf - you stop making the cigar until you get more. Don't come out with a great cigar - get good reviews - then later on pass off dog rockets wrapped in tobacco as the same highly rated cigar.
Pete Johnson ruining the industry - Hardly. I think RP, Gurhka, and General cigar are way ahead on that count.
A lot of marketing is simply distasteful or exploitative, but that extends way beyond the cigar industry. That's just the nature of the business -- to get noticed. On the other hand, you can only get so far with Jim Jones as your cover girl.
But complaining about LE cigars? There's no explanation for that except that the complainers can't acquire them. Let 'em cry. I do. Without shame.
Amen brotha
I also don't see where all the fuss with Pete Johnson is, if you don't like it ,don't buy it.
BUT, there may be something else to all this, " destroying the Industry" ??? Who ? Pete ?
I don't think so, trying to wake it up with some REAL cigars ? could be.
Anyway, all I see is that not every NC cigar maker, even with all the maketing power, can make it to the market in Europe.
OH, they try ,a few even make it after YEARS of pushing but, you can't say they're making it big
nobady was waiting for the big NC's here in Europe, HOWEVER, Pete Johnson will be selling his Tatuaje
label in Europe soon and here in France. The big difference between Pete and the other bigger NC brands
is, With Pete, we are looking forward to smoking his cigars.
Guy,
France
Nice article. It was really ironic that I got a Tatuaje Anarchy email while reading this! LOL!
Thank you! I've never understood all the backlash Pete takes over his LE's. PEOPLE DON"T HAVE TO BUY THEM! It's absolutely hilarious. I'm not mad at Rolls Royce because they don't sell cars where I live and can't afford them. That's just the nature of business. My hat's off to Pete and the rest of successful cigar marketers out there. Keep producing great cigars and hopefully he's making money off of it...this country wasn't founded on charity.
Don't forget that sometimes a limited edition if successful can become a regular production cigar. Take the Cabaiguan Guapos for example. Now the original 54 RG is part of the lineup.
The problem for me is when the marketing or pagaentry for a cigar comes before simply producing a good cigar. At the end of the day, that's all that it comes down to, not 'lifestyle marketing.'
One thing to always keep in mind is that this industry is fluent in bulls**t. A majority of the time, the "numbers" of LE boxes being released for any given manufacturer (for example 666 of 1300) is usually severely underestimated. I also find it hard to believe that Habanos ages there stuff for as long as they say they do. Don't believe everything you read.
Great read man. Coming from the "advertising" industry I can relate. The bottom line in my book, if you like it, smoke it.