Zippo lighter

Imagine all the storage you could ever use in a device the size of a small Zippo lighter or a box of Tic Tacs. The good news is that it's not your imagination; it's the WD Passport Pocket Drive.

Made by Western Digital Corp, the Pocket Drive accommodates up to 6GB and costs a mere $129.99. We covered the drive's arrival on the scene last month, and we simply couldn't wait to see what it can do. Here's what we found.

This marvel can hold as many as 5.5 hours of movies, 2,400 digital photos, 2,400 songs or tens of thousands of Word documents. As a result, you can go on the road with your entire digital library. No need to phone the office to ask someone to e-mail it to you in the middle of an interview.

The Passport Pocket Drive weighs 1.6 ounces and measures a scant: 0.37 x 2.41 x 1.80 inches. It houses a one-inch, 3,600 RPM WD hard drive inside with the rest of the space taken up by a flip-out, rotating connector that goes into one of the USB ports in a desktop or laptop computer. It's even Mac and PC-compatible.

Historical Note

It seems like only yesterday that a floppy disk held a LOT of data. At 1.44 MB, though, it soon became a casualty of the Internet-driven data explosion of the nineties. By the turn of the millennium, stories began to appear that said the end is in sight for the floppy. Manufacturers began issuing computers without floppy drives and today you rarely see a floppy drive in any new gear.

Try going to an office supply or computer store to buy floppies — it might well prove to be a fruitless task.

Today thumb drives have become the format of choice for storing and moving data. The first one we owned contained 64 MB and, at the time, carrying the equivalent of 40 floppies in a device about as long as a toothpick seemed incredible. Now you can buy 128 MB thumb drives for $16.99. The-top-of-the-line versions offer 4GB and cost anywhere from $150 to $250.

The WD Passport Pocket Drive, though, might signal the end of the line for thumb drive expansion. It's already cheaper in terms of total capacity and — since it's an actual hard drive — it's inherently more reliable. It also draws power from the computer; so it doesn't require a separate power supply, thus keeping its compact design.

Presto, It Works

How easy is it to install?

This ease of use is reflected in the instructions: there are none. Three simple diagrams show you how it works, mainly explaining that the connector slides out from the case and rotated ninety degrees to plug into any USB port no matter which direction the port faces.

At first, we thought we'd have to place our laptop on a book to give enough space underneath for the Pocket Drive. Instead, we just rotated the connector, and it worked perfectly.

The three basic installation steps include:

• Plug it in to the port at the side, back or front of your computer or laptop
• Reboot the computer
• You are ready to go

It took a few seconds for the laptop to recognize and prepare the device. Once we rebooted the PC, we could download or drag and drop files to it — or even play music from it. An activity light on the drive glows solid when the drive is connected, and it flashes while the drive stores data.

The "instructions" also contained a listing of compatible operating systems:

• Windows 98SE
• ME
• 2000
• XP
• Mac OS versions 9 and 10

Too Kool

In the fall of 2002, British American Tobacco's Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Tobacco, re-launched the KOOL brand in Canada.

The promotional campaign used to re-launch the brand showed how permeable regulatory controls on tobacco promotion can be in the face of a marketing onslaught.

The launch of KOOL cigarettes showed at least FIVE ways in which BAT's Canadian subsidiary slipped through restrictions on promotion to launch this brand.

Retail displays put the new brand before the nose of virtually every Canadian (eye-level for children).

Although the Tobacco Act allows the government to restrict the number or size of tobacco displays, no regulations have been developed in this area. Some provinces (like New Brunswick) have banned counter-top displays, and Saskatchewan and Manitoba have legislated bans on retail displays. Ironically, this last measure was struck down in a Saskatchewan court because it was considered to infringe on federal authority.

Light cigarettes

Cigarette Marketing Increased 85 Percent In Four Years After 1998

The major cigarette companies increased their marketing expenditures to a record $12.5 billion – $34.2 million a day – in 2002, according to the annual Federal Trade Commission report on cigarette marketing and sales released today.

This represents a one-year increase of 11 percent from the $11.2 billion spent in 2001 and an 85 percent increase in the four years after the tobacco companies agreed to curtail some aspects of their marketing as part of the November 1998 legal settlement with the states.

This report contradicts the tobacco companies’ claims, repeated during their recent opening arguments in the federal government’s tobacco lawsuit, that they have made “profound and permanent” changes in their marketing since the 1998 settlement.

While the settlement restricted some forms of cigarette marketing effective at reaching kids, such as billboards and event sponsorships, the tobacco companies have simply shifted their resources and increased spending in other ways that appeal to kids, especially price discounts that make cigarettes more affordable to kids and high-visibility store displays.

The new FTC report shows that 63.2 percent of cigarette marketing in 2002, or $7.9 billion, was spent on price discounts paid to cigarette retailers or wholesalers in order to reduce the price of cigarettes to consumers. The tobacco companies spent another $1.06 billion, or 8.5 percent of their total marketing, on promotions involving free cigarettes.

These price discounts and free cigarettes represent an aggressive effort by the tobacco companies to undermine state cigarette tax increases and make cigarettes more affordable to kids, who are their most price-sensitive customers. In 2002, 21 states – the most ever in a single year – increased cigarette taxes. The tobacco companies are well aware that studies show every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking rates by about seven percent and overall cigarette consumption by about four percent.

The fact that the tobacco companies acted so aggressively to undermine the public health benefits of cigarette tax increases shows that they cannot be taken seriously when they say they do not want kids to smoke.

States should respond by further increasing taxes on cigarettes in order to counter price discounts and reduce their appeal to children. Voters in Colorado, Montana and Oklahoma can take immediate action by approving the initiatives on the November 2 ballot to increase tobacco taxes in those states.

In addition to increasing their tobacco taxes, states must also allocate more of their tobacco settlement and tobacco tax revenues to tobacco prevention programs that can counter the industry’s aggressive marketing. In Fiscal Year 2004, the states cumulatively have allocated $541.1 million for tobacco prevention programs, which amounts to just four percent of cigarette marketing expenditures as reported today by the FTC.

In fact, the tobacco companies spend more to market cigarettes in a single day ($34.2 million) than all but four states (California, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York) currently spend in an entire year on tobacco prevention.

It is unconscionable that the states have been cutting back on programs proven to protect our kids from tobacco addiction at the same time that the tobacco industry is spending record amounts to market its deadly products.

The states collect nearly $20 billion a year in revenue from tobacco taxes and the tobacco settlement. It would take only about eight percent of this revenue for every state to fund tobacco prevention programs at the minimum levels recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tobacco Packaging

Cigarettes promotion

To promote its products, the tobacco industry spent $8.2 billion on marketing in 1999, an increase of $1.5 billion over the previous year (1). Tobacco advertising in various media increases tobacco consumption (2) and adolescents are more susceptible than adults to being influenced by some forms of tobacco advertising (3).

To describe the retail tobacco advertising and marketing environment, researchers from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-sponsored ImpacTeen Project (*) collected and analyzed store observation data in 163 communities throughout the United States. This report summarizes the extent of point-of-purchase (POP) tobacco advertising and marketing found in various types of stores.

The findings in this report indicate that certain retail environments frequented by teenagers heavily promote tobacco use. To reduce demand for tobacco products among adolescents, public health efforts should address POP environment exposure to tobacco advertising and marketing.

During a 4-month period in 1999, ImpacTeen researchers observed POP environments in 3,031 retail outlets in 163 communities with public schools participating in the nationally representative Monitoring the Future (MTF) study of eighth-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students (4). Private and magnet schools (comprising approximately 20% of the original sample) were not included in this study.

Community boundaries were defined by the area from which each school drew at least 80% of its student population. Random samples of up to 30 retailers per community were drawn from lists of stores selling tobacco and/or liquor products as identified by their Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC) Index codes (+). Two additional samples of 10 stores each were drawn as replacements for any stores on the original list that did not meet study criteria (i.e., those that had ceased business, had relocated, were not open during the days observers were on site, or did not sell tobacco products).

If field observers could not reach the desired sample size of 30 using the original and replacement lists of retailers, they added tobacco retailers identified on site.

Of the 3,031 observed stores, 2,309 (76.2%) were from the original sample, 355 (11.7%) were from randomly generated replacement lists, and 367 (12.1%) were added in the field based on study protocol. Overall, 2,999 (98.9%) of all observed stores were tobacco retailers and were eligible for inclusion in the study.

Cigarette ads from the 1920-1950

Cigarette Advertising in 1998

This four-page advertisement for Camel cigarettes was taken from the November 2, 1998 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.

Much like the cigarette tag, this ad uses cartoon imagery to sell the product. Goldberg's cartoon carried a political message, which is somewhat different from what is found in this cartoon. The ad sends a cultural message valuing wealth, beauty, and, quite blatantly, gluttony.

Something else inseparable from cigarette advertising, the Surgeon General's health warning, is also found in this ad, showing a greater concern for health than was found during the cigarette tag's day. The overall campaign that this ad markets has a similarly collectable aim.

There are more ads in this same campaign, indirectly encouraging the reader to search for others in the series.

Smoking in films and TV

cigarettes advertising in cinema films

In 1989, the tobacco industry stropped to pay for cigarettes advertising in cinema films.

Analysis department of tobacco companies make some studies about cigarettes advertising in cinema film.
In their studies was included the content of the top 25 US box-office films from 1988 to 1997.

They analyze the tobacco brands appearances before and after the ban and the size of the international audience for these films.

They conclude that the cigarettes brands that appeared most frequently were the most advertised in the USA. Moreover, the frequency of cigarettes brand appearances was the same before and after the cigarettes ban.
So, US cigarettes brands are being marketed to an international audience via cinema films if are or not take place some financial exchange.

Cigarettes brands that appear in cinema films stand better-know around the world.

Marlboro Billboard

Cigarettes marketing

Tobacco companies complain about some cigarettes bans on the TV, radio or on the billboards.

Governments of many countries restrict tobacco advertising because they think that some youths start to smoke with the help of cigarettes advertising.

Before to start a cigarette campaign, cigarettes companies make some studies when they ask smokers what do they like, what cigarettes brands they prefer and many other questions that help tobacco companies to direct their attention towards correct line of cigarettes.
Smokers’ preferences play an important role in cigarettes marketing, because smokers are the people who will buy these kinds of products.

In general, cigarettes companies try to direct cigarettes marketing to adult audience. More than that, they implement in their cigarettes marketing the following rules:
- They don’t market to children and they don’t use images or other content that could hurt particular appeal of minors;
- They put health warnings on the all cigarettes packs and marketing materials;
- They respect customs of all countries;
- They don’t use cartoons, youth celebrities or models for cigarettes advertising;

All these rules are used in Philip Morris Company. During of many years, they conclude that only communication with smokers will help them to have a boom in tobacco business.

Try to combat stress by smoking

Cigarettes and chewing tobacco help to discard stress

Workers of Harvard University carried out tests in India and as result they concluded: smoking has positive proprieties.

In particularly, this harmful habit represents a powerful means of control with intense stress.
Authors of this analysis announced that smoking and illness that it offers kills 800000 Hindu yearly.

In India, 29% of men and 3% of women smoke, and 20% of men and 12% of women use chewing tobacco.

Scientists supposed that the cause of abundance of smoking constituted the stress, which is caused by home violence.

The original package is left inside

A package as a symbol of life

We want to explain how special studies are helping to create or select from the proposed version is the package, which will reach its addressee-consumer.

Sending correspondence, we know the rules on which is written a detailed address: index, where, to whom and by whom.

This is a guarantee reach the addressee. The form, appearance, color and packaging material have the same function.

Successful found the combination of all these characteristics of the package should help sort out the rights plenty of goods and find something to his individual reflecting personal characteristics, in other words, the product should reach its addressee.

The answer to the question: "What people expect from the package?”.

Seemingly rests on the surface but actually answered every time we begin to research from scratch. We can only say for sure that the design of the package is most often fail not because the design could not convey his creator, but because of the said product is not what it expects real consumer.

One of the successful promotions of human social ladder is the ability to lodge itself, create a certain image in the eyes of others. This important role played by his appearance, so to speak, "packaging". As is an ancient folk proverb says: "For appearance met".

This maxim with the same success can be attributed to the product.
From happily found images package depends on the success of the product market.

The buyer, taking in the hands of the stack of new washing powder, tea, cigarettes, or any other product, should make sure its superiority over already familiar products in the same category, and it must convince the packaging buyer the right choice.

Marketing of Cigarettes

A Review of Cigarette Marketing

RJR Tobacco is marketing flavored cigarettes

Saatchi & Saatchi draw inspiration from the symbol of Camel cigarettes

Italian branch Saatchi&Saatchi made the additional prints of Camel campaign – Discover more.

Saatchi&Saatchi continue to look for camels everywhere.
Discover More Campaign conveys the idea of hidden messages and little pleasure things, which are not noticed by people in daily life.

But if in the first prints of the campaign the images of even allusions on the image of camel carried short-lived, passing character – leaves, raised with the wind, random rain drops on the river- in this prints the image of camel – the symbol of Camel cigarettes – is more noticeable and monumental.