JT Hi-Lite: Meet Your Delight

[Captain Japan]

JT has been coming out with some strange ads lately. I find the guy with the crumpled face - and the matching crumpled pack - just baffling. Now, I realize that there are loads of strange advertising campaigns going on everywhere but I've caught myself staring at that ad more than once. Call me crazy (I can take it) but I think this ad first debuted at around the same time that Jenkins started making the papers last year. Who else sees the resemblence?

And now I see that it has become a series. Even the Harajuku-dancing-Elvis-wannabees have gotten themselves in ads that include crumpled dancing packs. Hey, where are my cigarettes?

JT: Meet Your Delight

[FG Lurker]

Ah yes, Japan... The country where the cigarette packs warn you that for your health's sake you should be careful not to smoke too much.

[Samurai_Jerk]

JT has been coming out with some strange ads lately. I find the guy with the crumpled face - and the matching crumpled pack - just baffling. Now, I realize that there are loads of strange advertising campaigns going on everywhere but I've caught myself staring at that ad more than once. Call me crazy (I can take it) but I think this ad first debuted at around the same time that Jenkins started making the papers last year. Who else sees the resemblence?

And now I see that it has become a series. Even the Harajuku-dancing-Elvis-wannabees have gotten themselves in ads that include crumpled dancing packs. Hey, where are my cigarettes?

JT: Meet Your Delight

Maybe it's a health warning. If you smoke you too could lose all of your teeth to gum cancer.

[Taro Toporific]

What the hell was Hiroko-chan of Japan Tobacco smoking when she decided to market "green" Eco Style(tm) cigarettes? Ecologically friendly cigarettes, ri-i-i-i-ght.

Caption:
AFP/Getty Images, Jan 17, TOKYO, JAPAN:Hiroko Miyaki, a brand manager of Japan Tobacco (JT) displays her developped "Mild Seven Super Lights Eco Style" cigarettes boxes, which use the new ecologically friendly packing, consisting only paper material and no film or aluminum foil packaging...

[DJEB]

Oh somebody just shoot me now and get it over with.

[Captain Japan]

JT continues to saturate cigarette market
Japan Times

Japan Tobacco Inc. unveiled six new cigarette products Monday, bringing the number of product launches in fiscal 2004 to a record 18.
The aggressive product offensive is part of the former state monopoly's bid to survive in a shrinking domestic market. It was privatized 20 years ago, but the government still holds a controlling stake.

The new cigarettes will be introduced next month. The previous record -- 14 new products -- was reached in fiscal 2003. Only four were released in fiscal 2002.

"Among the 60 best-selling cigarette brands (on the domestic market), three are replaced every year on average," Yasumasa Matsunaga, JT's senior executive vice president, told a news conference.

"On the other hand, the success rate of new products is about 30 percent. So we would like to secure the three" by launching many new products annually, he said.

JT officials said the recent surge in new rollouts can partly be attributed to a change in the firm's marketing strategy; JT has switched to launching new items without test marketing.

JT hopes to expand its domestic market share of 73 percent by deploying a variety of products in succession.

Japan's smoking population has been steadily declining due to heightened health awareness. An annual JT survey found that the proportion of smokers fell to a record 29.4 percent in 2004....the rest...

[FG Lurker]

Oh somebody just shoot me now and get it over with.

Specially for you DJEB:

[kurohinge1]

What the hell was Hiroko-chan of Japan Tobacco smoking when she decided to market "green" Eco Style(tm) cigarettes? Ecologically friendly cigarettes, ri-i-i-i-ght.
...

All cigarettes are "economically friendly", as they rid the planet of humans!

Smoking 'kills up to 5,000 foetuses a year'
Smoking causes up to 5,000 miscarriages and 1,200 cases of cervical cancer every year, a new report on tobacco and reproductive health says.

It also reduces fertility, makes 120,000 men impotent and increases the risks of childhood cancer ...

[FG Lurker]

That's a classic photo!

But it looks to me like it was posed with an actress for a few reasons:

1. It would be a much better shot if she was exhaling smoke...
2. Her left arm is set back like that to enhance the pregnant look.
3. Angle and hair seem carefully set up to completely hide her face.

Still, a very interesting photo.

[Ketou]

Japan is a lost cause when it comes to tabacco. Last I heard the Ministry of Health had a whole two people assigned to tabacco health awareness.
The government spends heaps more money on getting people to smoke than trying to stop them.

Doesn't the cost of high death rates outway the profits from tabacco??

[FG Lurker]

Doesn't the cost of high death rates outway the profits from tabacco??

In most countries that would be true.

But in Japan the gov't owns the majority share of JT. And JT has 70% of the tabacco market. So not only do they get the tax revenue, they get the profits from selling the cigs too.

[Andocrates]

Doesn't the cost of high death rates outway the profits from tabacco??

In most countries that would be true.

But in Japan the gov't owns the majority share of JT. And JT has 70% of the tabacco market. So not only do they get the tax revenue, they get the profits from selling the cigs too.

While I agree smoking is bad, America completely demonized it beyond all need. A campaign of lies is still a campaign of lies. And as for the health issue, it doesn't seem Japanese suffer anywhere near as much as Americans. But there again how could you know how many people died in America since it always has a propaganda spin. For instance, every single person who dies of cancer, even at age 95, and who smoked is chalked up as a tobacco related death.

[FG Lurker]

While I agree smoking is bad, America completely demonized it beyond all need. A campaign of lies is still a campaign of lies. And as for the health issue, it doesn't seem Japanese suffer anywhere near as much as Americans. But there again how could you know how many people died in America since it always has a propaganda spin. For instance, every single person who dies of cancer, even at age 95, and who smoked is chalked up as a tobacco related death.

It's the opposite in Japan... Until not-so-long ago every death was recorded as "heart failure" so that families could avoid the stigma of cancer etc.

Personally I don't care if people choose to smoke... I don't much enjoy going home reeking like an ashtray after a night out though.

I think one of the best quotes I've heard about having non-separated smoking and non-smoking sections is: "Would you swim in a pool that was split into peeing and non-peeing sections?"

[Andocrates]

I think one of the best quotes I've heard about having non-separated smoking and non-smoking sections is: "Would you swim in a pool that was split into peeing and non-peeing sections?"

That's good but remember the Steve Martin Bit:

Smoker:"Do you mind if I smoke?"
SteveM: "No, do you mind if I fart? It's one of my habits."

[FG Lurker]

Smoker:"Do you mind if I smoke?"
SteveM: "No, do you mind if I fart? It's one of my habits."

Hehe, maybe I'll try that next time.

[kurohinge1]

... The government spends heaps more money on getting people to smoke than trying to stop them.

Doesn't the cost of high death rates outway the profits from tabacco??

If most die near the end of their productive tax-paying lives, wouldn't it be in the government's interests that they depart sooner rather than later?

[Captain Japan]

Heavy smokers more likely to commit suicide
Mainichi

Middle-aged and elderly men who smoke heavily are more likely to commit suicide, a major survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has found.

In an epidemiological survey conducted by a research team at the ministry, it was found that the rate of suicide among middle-aged and elderly men was linked to the number of cigarettes they smoked.

"We have to pay more attention to smokers' mental health," a representative of the research team said. The results will be announced at a meeting of the Japan Epidemiological Association in Otsu on Friday.

In 1990 and 1993, researchers investigated the habits of some 45,000 men aged between 40 and 69 living in eight prefectures in Japan including Iwate, Nagano, Kochi, Nagasaki and Okinawa.

[FG Lurker]

... The government spends heaps more money on getting people to smoke than trying to stop them.

Doesn't the cost of high death rates outway the profits from tabacco??

If most die near the end of their productive tax-paying lives, wouldn't it be in the government's interests that they depart sooner rather than later?

I think Phillip Morris actually paid for a study (not released of course) that tried to show this... The gist was that smokers died earlier and therefore saved gov'ts money in health care and pensions.

[Kuang_Grade]

... The government spends heaps more money on getting people to smoke than trying to stop them.

Doesn't the cost of high death rates outway the profits from tabacco??

If most die near the end of their productive tax-paying lives, wouldn't it be in the government's interests that they depart sooner rather than later?

I think Phillip Morris actually paid for a study (not released of course) that tried to show this... The gist was that smokers died earlier and therefore saved gov'ts money in health care and pensions.

here's a bbc piece on that study
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1443098.stm

The report, drawn up for tobacco giant Philip Morris, found that the Czech Republic saved about $147m in 1997 as a result of the deaths of smokers who would not live to use healthcare or housing for the elderly.

"Following that logic, the best recommendation to governments would be to kill all people on the day of their retirement," Czech public health campaigner, Eva Kralikova said.

Maybe Logan's run was on to something.


google search for PM study
http://www.google.com/search?q=Philip+Morris+czech+good+for+government&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

these guys go over and trash the methodology in the PM report.

http://www.ash.org.uk/html/international/pdfs/czechstudy.pdf

Despite this the study does conclude, incorrectly, that smoking is a net benefit. It achieves this by including tobacco taxation on the benefits side. This is cheating. In the absence of tobacco in the Czech economy, the governmenta^?(TM)s revenue needs would be met because consumers would be spending on other goods and services that would be taxed, and in a full adjustment, the government would be taxing other things to raise the budget it requires.

[Ketou]

here's a bbc piece on that study
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1443098.stm

And the people who do these studies are supposed to educated!

[FG Lurker]

here's a bbc piece on that study
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1443098.stm

And the people who do these studies are supposed to educated!

They are... If you study statistics you learn all about how to manipulate numbers.

Didn't hear about the guy who always drove drunk? Hey, 20% of accidents are caused by drunk drivers... That means that 80% are caused by those who are sober. Therefore being drunk drastically lowers my chance of being in an accident....

Lies...Lies, damn lies and statistics.

[kurohinge1]

... Didn't hear about the guy who always drove drunk? Hey, 20% of accidents are caused by drunk drivers... That means that 80% are caused by those who are sober. Therefore being drunk drastically lowers my chance of being in an accident....

And Norm's Buffalo Theory suggests we get smarter the more we drink, so that guy may be right

[Captain Japan]

Japan to stub out youth smoking
UPI via Washington Times

Tokyo, Japan, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Japan has kicked off a major campaign against underage smoking with a meeting of officials from 14 government bodies, Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday.

Better education and counseling are needed, the officials agreed at their first meeting Tuesday, where ministries and agencies presented various approaches to the problem.

The Finance Ministry said it will ban outdoor advertisements for tobacco, starting in April. Ads on buses and trains were banned last October.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will survey anti-smoking measures taken in various workplaces and will devise smoking-cessation programs with the aid of health professionals....the rest...

[Andocrates]

here's a bbc piece on that study
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1443098.stm

And the people who do these studies are supposed to educated!

They are... If you study statistics you learn all about how to manipulate numbers.

Didn't hear about the guy who always drove drunk? Hey, 20% of accidents are caused by drunk drivers... That means that 80% are caused by those who are sober. Therefore being drunk drastically lowers my chance of being in an accident....

Lies...Lies, damn lies and statistics.

80% of the UK was sober? I'd like to see that.

[FG Lurker]

80% of the UK was sober? I'd like to see that.

T'was a joke man...

But following along... Not 80% of the general population, 80% of those in traffic accidents!

[FG Lurker]

... The government spends heaps more money on getting people to smoke than trying to stop them.

Doesn't the cost of high death rates outway the profits from tabacco??

If most die near the end of their productive tax-paying lives, wouldn't it be in the government's interests that they depart sooner rather than later?

It would if smokers didn't tend to die of such expensive and drawn out diseases.

Say, if they were just walking down the street and one day their head exploded... No problem -- very cheap, no treatment required.

Cancer, emphysema, heart disease, hardened/blocked arteries etc are all expensive to treat and slow to kill.

[kurohinge1]

If most die near the end of their productive tax-paying lives, wouldn't it be in the government's interests that they depart sooner rather than later?

... Say, if they were just walking down the street and one day their head exploded... No problem -- very cheap, no treatment required...

They've already thought of it ...

Cigarette Bangers

Ten exploding bangers to put in cigarettes. When the fag is smoked the banger will go off loudly and rip up the ciggie...

They just need to increase the strength and slip them into the "free retirement pack" the government will send you at age 65! :lol:

[FG Lurker]

They just need to increase the strength and slip them into the "free retirement pack" the government will send you at age 65! :lol:

The entire issue of smoking in society could be fixed if they just slipped he increased-strength version into random packs of cigs...

[Akita Dog]

loads of japanese people still think smoking gives you tabacco power, in 4 years of smoking i have never experienced this power.

[Andocrates]