CI "Fake" Cigars?

[jp1979]

Both very good points. But the use of the word 'premium' places the cigar in a different class. If I go to the butcher and he sells me a 'Prime' cut of beef for $2 a pound, when it really should be $10 a pound, I'm excited. But if that beef I bought is really 'Select' under the guise of 'Prime', then the butcher has deceived me. If the FDA finds out of this practice, then he will be fined and lose his license. Why are the same standards not in place for cigar retailers and consumers? If I buy what is advertised as a 'premium' cigar, then it should not contain 'non-premium' tobacco. The same way the butcher can't sell me 'Select' beef under the guise of 'Choice.'

*edit read it wrong* again it was not sold as a premium cigar, no where did it say that. Los Blancos Premiere is the name. it said it was made with premium tobacco, which in someones opinion it might be, in most peoples its not, im not debating the fact that the description is overly done, but so are 90% of the ones you see on ALL products, lotion, cars, food, beer, electronics, etc...

[Skeat5353]

*edit read it wrong* again it was not sold as a premium cigar, no where did it say that. Los Blancos Premiere is the name. it said it was made with premium tobacco, which in someones opinion it might be, in most peoples its not, im not debating the fact that the description is overly done, but so are 90% of the ones you see on ALL products, lotion, cars, food, beer, electronics, etc...

Justin, I find your commentary very honest, stimulating, and sincere. I looked at the Los Blancos advertisement on CI and, yes, there is no mention of 'premium' any where on the page. But have a look at a few links here:

http://www.cigarsinternational.com/s...ment/#p-162826

http://www.cigarsinternational.com/c...-premium-2nds/

http://www.cigarsinternational.com/s...-box/#p-150816

http://www.cigarsinternational.com/s...r-iv/#p-140501

By the use of the word 'premium', CI is putting these cigars under the same umbrella as real premium cigars. I'm not bashing CI. They are well within their rights to market these cigars as such. But to the uninformed and uninitiated, these cigars are 'premium.' Cut them open, and you'll know how premium they are. The tobacco of these cigars is by no means 'premium' at all--not certainly in the same class as genuine premium cigars, like Fuente, Tatuaje, Padron, Davidoff, etc. But they're marketed under this umbrella. That doesn't mean they're fake, as Glynn claimed in his stupid webcast. But they are not 'premium' in any way.

I guess we can just agree to disagree. My FDA meat grade analogy was a bit off, only because there is not the same grading system in place for tobacco, like you indicated. But my point was that there should be a 'grading' system for cigar tobacco. There's no way that retailers should be able to slap a 'premium' label on a shit rocket and sell it for 10 times its true value. If some shlub with a Youtube web channel decides to expose that, it just doesn't seem right that CI can threaten him with legal repercussions and force him to remove a video. Again, it goes back to my small guy vs. big guy analogy above.

Like Ropey was alluding to in his post, I would've stood my ground and forced CI to reveal their shady marketing practices through discovery. And then settled out of court. I would've then taken the money and bought real premium cigars from a dealer in Hong Kong or Geneva! LOL

[Sticky B]

There's no way that retailers should be able to slap a 'premium' label on a shit rocket and sell it for 10 times it's true value.

Are you arguing that the cigar Bryan cut apart was only really worth being sold for $0.10-0.20?

What should machine-made cigars go for?

[Lapithicus]

Here is a description of what happened from David Blanco of Blanco Cigars. He presented this in a recent video:

“We changed the name of our company from Los Blancos to Blanco Cigars. We had left over boxes and bands and CI and I came to an agreement that they would be happy to take off my hands the packaging keeping the original thought in mind with regard to the blending profile, but for a much more reasonable price to allow it to be accessible in the mass market.

So, that was the agreement and the deal that we had, for which they held up their part of the agreement.

What CI told me was that the first shipment they received from the manufacturer that they contracted in the Dominican Republic was fine. Subsequent shipments for delivery have had problem issues that they are addressing and I have been assured that they are being addressed. But for those of you that got product that were substandard or not smokable...If you received anything of it from CI, or CBid or any of their other sites, please call customer service <Blanco Cigars> and they will take care of you, hands down.

Substandard product and product that is cracked or has beetles or anything else is unacceptable, I don’t care what band is on it.

So this is a problem they are having with the manufacturer they contracted with out of the DR, which I will not name because it would be very unprofessional of me and may be isolated. The product that they did have up there and I was present for had no problems. It was a lesser quality tobacco, but it is reflected in the pricing relative to what we charge for the Premier line that we have.”

I don’t think I would call this false advertising. If you see a $6-8 cigar suddenly selling for $2 and the company’s name has changed, I think you would figure out that they are not the same.

[Tman]

This is a great popcorn thread!

[herman]

More of an observation. That actually made me post. I was hesitant to post or read any further, cause I really didn't care. I mean it was just a $2.00 cigar.

I actually didn't see lapithicus's post.
Thanks for the info.

[Billb1960]

So here's the video that @Lapithicus was referring to:

If you skip to 23:00 you can see the discussion about these cigars.

What I don't understand is if Bryan knew the whole story back in early January when this video was produced why did he bother to create a new one with all of the hyperbole. Doesn't make much sense to me.

[B daddy]

Advertising is primarily bullshit. I wish it weren't allowed to be but it is. If it's 100% bullshit and the product's advertising is specifically regulated and it's damaging, then there might be legal reprocussions. But if it's only 80% bullshit, there's really no downside. In this particular instance, as long as it's tobacco inside (vs rat feces or oily rags) it's within acceptable tolerances. If you have a problem with it, vote with your feet.

[Horseshoe]

. <--- still beating a dead horse.

[Browns7213]