In theme of putting up crazy business ideas … here’s one … Let’s create a new cigarette brand.
I know what you’re thinking … ehhh Hoffman, you’ve got a few loose screws. And while that is probably true … indulge me for a second …
We’ll call our brand of cigarettes “Death”
The slogan will be “smoking WILL kill you.”
And instead of a cowboy or a hot model or a crazy cartoon camel, this cigarette mascot will be a skull and cross bones. Yes, stay away. It is Death.
We’d put something like this on the packaging: “We suggest you do not smoke. All the executives at Death do not smoke because we know smoking will kill you and it will kill others around you.”
Would this sell? Not sure. But my guess is that there is a large enough audience of smokers out there who are tired of big tobacco lying to them and pushing cigarettes on kids. Death would be just the opposite. We’d be very up front with our customers — we will probably kill you and we don’t think you should buy our product.
“Death” might encourage people not to take up smoking or to quit.
Truth in advertising might actually work.
Auren, your idea is not new. There was a popular brand of cigs called “Black Death”, later extended to vodka and other vices. The brand sold very well (for a while anyway) because of its cool factor and the fact that most everyone who smokes knows it’s not healthy anyway.
http://flickr.com/photos/kenberger/248278312/
They had a marketing campaign saying more or less, “Please don’t buy our product”, people wore t-shirts that read “Don’t smoke Black Death Cigarettes.” Very popular in Los Angeles when I lived there in the early 90’s.
The Anti-Brand
Auren posted about a crazy business idea: Let’s create a new cigarette brand….We’ll call our brand of cigarettes Death. The slogan will be smoking WILL kill you.We’d be very up front with our customers — we will probably kill you
thats not new idea, i remember when i was in high school in 2001 in my book of english class there was an interview with a guy who made a sigarette brand called “death”. even there were some photos of packs but not like ones in flickr photo posted by ken.
there were death classic, which was black pack and white round logo in the middle with a this death sign on it and was death lights, a white pack with balck round with death logo in it.
i was not a good student but that lesson i remember very well:D
i think it was this http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/everyday_life/img/IM.0919_zp.jpg
hi Auren – in Australia, Europe and other countries around the world, you can have your brand of cigarettes, but most of these countries have “SMOKING KILLS” and “EXPECT BIRTH DEFECTS” and even “SMOKING HAMPERS SEXUAL PERFORMANCE” with a picture of a couple who had just consummated, and she looked quite unhappy – so we don’t need a new brand necessarily, we just need HONEST REGULATORS with a sense of HUMOUR!
I am not sure if anything can make people quit smoking.This is something like a disease and the percent of the people who has stopped smoking is smaller than the percent of people who has started smoking.
Quitting smoking is easy. If you think it’s hard, the level of your brainwash is pretty high. Start question your self for christ sake, it’s about time.
Check real stop smoking tips from real people, that want to help.
Cold turkey is the way to go. Don’t allow the cigarette to own you.
Funny thing is…people will probably buy and smoke them anyway. lol
– Fragonzal