Commentary on - "Tobacco Bill Could Snuff Out RJR's Smokeless Strategy"..

June 2, 2009 - Article by David Whelan, Staff Writer for Forbes.com entitled: Tobacco Bill Could Snuff Out RJR's Smokeless Strategy, June 1, 2009.

Whelan article - claims snus products such as Camel SNUS are the perfect product where not in Sweden and not where it was test marketed and even now that Reynolds American has gone national with the product. By far - they have given away many more cans of this stuff than have been sold. We know c-stores where the stuff hardly sells and when finally a patron comes in and expresses interest in snus - they give them a can free plus ask if they want additional cans at no charge.

See what other tobacco companies are saying about the snus sales.

Maybe young adults and kids that would like to be young adults will - give it a try because it's a novelty - they think they're getting away with something - the tagline line for Camel Snus. Unfortunately they aren't faking out anyone but themselves since they end up being nicotine addicts for the rest of their lives.

R.J. Reynlds has tried just about everything: from providing coupons, to stationing people at bars and c-stores, to running ads in various publications to hook youngsters on snus without success.

I'd be willing to bet this factory Whelan mentions to produce Camel SNUS - will not be entirely devoted to snus; remember, Reynolds has their Camel Dissolvable Tobacco products also.

They have delayed the release of the Camel Sticks that look like flavored toothpicks and the Camel flavored strips for the tongue like those edible breath-fresheners strips Listerine makes. It's impossible to prevent our children from giving these products a try. It only take a few tries for a youngster to soon become addicted to nicotine. We can expect our future leaders - our children to end up as a slave to nicotine never able to reach their full potential.


Now you tell me who these products will appeal to. Look at this comparison of Camel Orbs flavored tobacco pellets and TicTac candies. Comments from another Camel Orbs test site - Indianapolis, Indiana.

Thank goodness for the U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio amendment to the proposed FDA regulation bill sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. With this amendment in place, Reynolds will never be able to market the Camel dissolvable tobacco products.

One last item - Mr. Whelan why do you think Reynolds American picked Portland, Oregon as a marketing test site. Well, here's the real reason that Portland was selected. In the State of Oregon tobacco companies are allowed to dole out freebies of smokeless tobacco but are banned from handing out free cigarettes. With products like Camel SNUS and the Camel Dissolvable Tobacco products that boast kid-friendly flavors the state legislators now wants this practice stopped. State Rep. Carolyn Tomei: "Now Oregon has become the place where they have campaigns for smokeless tobacco. They’re handing out free Snus samples, and to whom did they hand it out? Not people my age; it’s the young ones."

More supporting information can be found throughout the information base we maintain. Any of these addresses can be used to access the system: http://news.snus.biz , http://otpinfo.info , http://otpnews.info and http://snus-news.blogspot.com.

Reference: Tobacco Bill Could Snuff Out RJR's Smokeless Strategy,
David Whelan, Forbes.com, 6/1/2009.