This Week in the Mercury
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Misc The Cigarette Peddlers, or Women in Shiny Black Dresses
Posted by Rachael the Unpaid News Intern on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:58 AM
Our intern Rachael is having quite a tough time this summer, having taken off on a two-week trip around Europe. Because we pay her nothing, we insisted she continue to blog from abroad. Here’s her first post.
In Portland, I'm used to being accosted by skinny hipster kids asking for money to save the trees, save the children, save the ocean, save music in schools, save their mother. And when I lived in Florence as an exchange student last year, I got used to being accosted by other American kids passing out flyers for clubs, parties, and pub crawls. But last night, sitting on the patio of my favorite bar in Florence, I experienced something new. What they were peddling, I wasn't expecting.
The pouring rain had stopped, and sipping on my Martini Bianco, I was enjoying watching all the designer Italian shoes walk by. I noticed two pairs of identical shiny black pumps authoritatively walk up to a group of young men on the patio. I looked up. Two women with shiny black dresses and shiny black hair were giving some sort of spiel to the boys. Clearly they were taken in. Italian men are famous for their drooling over lovely women, so I would expect nothing less than full-on ogling when two thin, beautiful women wearing tight, shiny black everything approach them. Shiny black haired girl number one reached into her shiny black patent leather bag and passed around some little boxes. Smiles all around. The women moved onto another group.
What was going on? No flyers, no petitions, no exchange of money. I watched a few minutes longer until they hit up my table.
more after the jump!
"Buona sera, ragazze. Fumaste?"
"Buona sera," I responded. No, neither of us smokes, I told her.
"Okay, grazie." They went to the next table, at which there were two young women about the same age as my sister and me.
This time, I could hear the conversation. The girl with shiny black hair and a shiny black clipboard asked a few questions and wrote down a few answers. Then the other girl with shiny black hair and the shiny black bag reached in and pulled out…two packs cigarettes?
As it turns out, these girls were giving out free cigarettes to get people excited about whatever new type of tobacco product their company had just launched. I watched them go in and out of all the bars on the street, passing out free cigarettes to almost everyone.
At a time when the United States, and Portland specifically, is making such a huge effort to curb smoking, this left me flabbergasted. Portlanders can’t even smoke in bars anymore, let alone give out promotional cigarettes. Can you imagine the backlash should some righteous Portland citizen discover that people in their city were giving out free cigarettes? There would be fines, lawsuits, a blog frenzie, and someone would probably find some elected official to recall.
-Rachael Marcus
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Oh young Rachel, so naive.
This used to happen in bars here all the time. I got free smokes in Belmont Inn probably less than two years ago. they give you a survey, then your brand of smokes if they've got them. This marketing technique may be gone with the ban on smoking indoors, or it may have moved outdoors. I don't know as I don't smoke any more.
Jesus, does this Forest Gump of an intern even go to bars? I've gotten free smokes at a bar within the last 6 months or so. Camel was sending reps around handing out free packs of those cigarettes with the little menthol pouch in the filter.
Is Rachael even old enough to go into American bars? Does the Merc employ a fact-checker? I'll repeat my offer of $32.5k/anum with an expectation of a 35/hour work week. Then I'll stop being all up on your blog blowing holes in all of your writers' writings.
Um, yeah. This has been going on for years all over the US. I recall Marlboro reps (smelly hipsters from my neighborhood) dragging tablet PCs around and scanning IDs as far back as 2002. Camel was hitting Portland bars right up until the smoking ban went into effect, also doling out their nasty "SNUS" snuffable product around the time of launch.
Camel also sponsored a few hip music events. They brought the Black Lips to Mt. Tabor a couple years ago and knocked the ticket price down to $5. Upon entry was a huge table of free Camel products, yours in exchange for giving them your name and address. There was also some sort of "VIP Smoking Lounge" on the side of the stage.
The long-standing rumor was that they were required to share your information with major insurance companies, identifying you as a tobacco user. Every rep I've asked about this vehemently denied it, though, so I assume it's urban legend.
I got 2 free packs of Marlboros and a zippo from the cigarette at red cap like two weeks ago...
Ah yes, Graham-- I haven't spent a lot of time in bars lately, but I recall Camel handing out the "Crush" cigs not long ago. Forgot all about that.
Tell me where these cigarettes are being handed out? I need them and if it pisses off self important , smug, know it all pseudo hipsters who get up in my grill while I'm using a legal product to kill myself so I don't have to listen to them, so much the better.
And here in Portland they didn't need to dress like a slutty superhero.
The best was sitting at a table of nonsmokers and being given their free stuff and then waking up in the morning with 10 unopened packs of cigarettes in my purse.
Maybe the angle I should have taken was the "sex sells" bit of it. I was more surprised by the sheer blatancy of “smoke our cigarettes, score a hot chick" message than the free cigarettes themselves, but it's true, aside from Europe, almost every bar I've ever been to was subject to a no-smoking ban, thus this free cigarette thing was new to me. Excuse my youth. I’ll age as fast as I can.
@Graham
I overheard a guy lamenting on how he'd received one of those free packs of smokes, but then fell over later in the evening, crushing his pack and changing them all to menthol.
This reminds me of a story I read in the Merc or WW last year about one girls anger over Camel marketing cigarettes designed to appeal to women. I think the packaging was pink and the taste of the cigarettes were lighter. Reps for the company were going around to bars and handing out tshirts and other swag. The writer was full of self righteous anger that a cigarette company would try to make and advertise a product that women might like. Isn't it the goal of all companies to try and cater their product to appeal to as many people as they can? I think that's why we have Carl's Jr. commercials with hot men and women in bikini's taking big sexy bites of huge hamburgers.
The anti smoking zealots view cigarettes the same way many view cocaine, and they are doing everything they can to have them treated as an illegal drug. They are pushing for R ratings for movies that feature smoking, they've successfully gotten cigarettes regulated by the FDA so that cigarette makers will now be limited in changing the taste of smokes to appeal to more people. They have restricted advertising for cigarettes by banning cartoon characters and banned billboards and other advertising material. But the fact is smoking is still legal and the makers have a responsibility to their shareholders to do everything they can to promote their product, and that includes sending sexy women to bars to give out free samples. There is nothing new about it, and absolutely nothing wrong with it.
A friend of mine used to get paid to wear short-shorts and a baby-T while handing out free packets of American Spirit RYO at the Horse Brass and places like that. I think she quit after they tried to make her hang out in titty bars giving away smokes.
Sorry, but it's always funny when kids think they discovered something new, simply because they've never experienced it before.
"Hey, you heard of this group called the Beatles? They're super old, but still worth a listen!"
@lastsup HAhahhaah. Love the story about the guy turning his crushed into menthols accidentally. Fail!
joneser is a woman? where do you find such eloquent vehemence amongst your likely soft, beautiful layers?
I find vehemence in my long shiny hair, and in my boobs.
Mizzzzzzz and Joneser sittin' in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First Comes love
then comes marriage
Then comes Joneser pushin' a baby carriage
Thanks Rachel. They should pay you. Internships are overrated.
I dont have experience with this here, but before I left Houston a few years ago everyone rejoiced when the Camel Guy came into the bar.
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