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| Looks like a mighty fine smoke to me, you electronic Marlboro Man. |
(2/1/2014) NJOY, one of the most successful e-cigarette marketers, is broadcasting a controversial ad during Super Bowl tomorrow. For some reason, it's only being shown in in Miami, Denver, San Antonio, and Nashville, but you can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH0KW37bfDk.
It's nothing like the sexy and luxurious promotional materials we've seen to date, particularly in print. It's wacky and high-spirited, waiting until the end to raise the issue of smoking. When it does, it portrays NJOYs as something you should urge your friends to try, as a much safer option than tobacco.
NJOYs aren't designed to be cute, hip high-tech fashion accessories or inhalable, calorie-free candy. Plain and menthol are your only choices. The packaging is generic. The aim is not to be enticing.
"We’re committed to ending this health epidemic by getting people to no longer need cigarettes. Our mission is to make tobacco cigarettes obsolete," says CEO Craig Weiss
But some are fuming at the return of smoking ads to TV, whether tobacco combustion is involved or not.
The commercial ends with this kicker: “Cigarettes, you’ve met your match.”
Weiss says NJOY decided to run an ad in the Super Bowl again this year because last year’s ad boosted sales and because retailers like to see investment in the brand, according to Time magazine. As for whether the ad will reach children watching the Super Bowl, he says: ”I’m less concerned about our advertisement than children under the drinking age watching one long beer commercial that’s occasionally interrupted by football. There shouldn’t be anything controversial about people wanting to advertise their products, especially when we are advertising a product that’s an alternative to a toxic product that kills people.”
"The most comprehensive and pleasurable article to date on the e-cigarette phenomenon. A delightful read."
(Bloomberg Review) http://kronstantinople.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-e-cigarette-seduction-are-we.html
NJOYs aren't designed to be cute, hip high-tech fashion accessories or inhalable, calorie-free candy. Plain and menthol are your only choices. The packaging is generic. The aim is not to be enticing.
"We’re committed to ending this health epidemic by getting people to no longer need cigarettes. Our mission is to make tobacco cigarettes obsolete," says CEO Craig Weiss
But some are fuming at the return of smoking ads to TV, whether tobacco combustion is involved or not.
Weiss says NJOY decided to run an ad in the Super Bowl again this year because last year’s ad boosted sales and because retailers like to see investment in the brand, according to Time magazine. As for whether the ad will reach children watching the Super Bowl, he says: ”I’m less concerned about our advertisement than children under the drinking age watching one long beer commercial that’s occasionally interrupted by football. There shouldn’t be anything controversial about people wanting to advertise their products, especially when we are advertising a product that’s an alternative to a toxic product that kills people.”
"The most comprehensive and pleasurable article to date on the e-cigarette phenomenon. A delightful read."
(Bloomberg Review) http://kronstantinople.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-e-cigarette-seduction-are-we.html