CI "Fake" Cigars?

[Billb1960]

If this were a one-off from Cigars International, this thread wouldn't have expanded to 12 pages. However, I think that they, Thompson, the rest of the online cigar retailers, and perhaps the entire cigar industry are seen as such marketing hucksters that one more example just pisses people off even more. It's like a slow boil.

There is a significant portion, I daresay even a majority of the cigar smoking community which is always trying to find that magical cigar which smokes & tastes like a super premium but only costs a dollar or two. I'm pretty sure all of us have been there at some point in our cigar smoking progression. Hopefully most of us have learned by now that the old maxim, "you get what you pay for" applies to cigars as much as it does to any other endeavor.

However the large online vendors have learned that they can be very successful by marketing to that segment and they use "marketing speak" to do that. That's exactly what they did with the cigars which are the subject of this thread. I don't think they were being blatantly dishonest and the price point should be a very large clue that these weren't going to be Padron clones so I really don't have a problem with their tactics even though I don't think it benefits the cigar industry as a whole.

As far as the people who buy them, it's kind of like those Einsteins that fall for the Nigerian email scams. I really don't have a whole lot of sympathy for them. Do you really think you're going to get something for nothing?

[UncleFesterESQ]

There is a significant portion, I daresay even a majority of the cigar smoking community which is always trying to find that magical cigar which smokes & tastes like a super premium but only costs a dollar or two. I'm pretty sure all of us have been there at some point in our cigar smoking progression. Hopefully most of us have learned by now that the old maxim, "you get what you pay for" applies to cigars as much as it does to any other endeavor.

However the large online vendors have learned that they can be very successful by marketing to that segment and they use "marketing speak" to do that. That's exactly what they did with the cigars which are the subject of this thread. I don't think they were being blatantly dishonest and the price point should be a very large clue that these weren't going to be Padron clones so I really don't have a problem with their tactics even though I don't think it benefits the cigar industry as a whole.

As far as the people who buy them, it's kind of like those Einsteins that fall for the Nigerian email scams. I really don't have a whole lot of sympathy for them. Do you really think you're going to get something for nothing?

Game, set, match!

Although I will admit I'm still on the lookout for that $3 super premium!