The following is a statement from Jason Healy, President of blu Cigs:

Flavored cigarettes and to a lesser extent, electronic cigarettes, are a topic of much debate, so I’d like to examine both sides of the argument and add some more perspective to the discussion.

First, a question for each side – slightly tongue in cheek, but pertinent to the discussion nonetheless.  At what age does one cease liking flavors?  It may sound silly but I’ll ask again. At what point does one stop liking chocolate, mint, strawberry or bubble gum? The obvious answer to the question is, never (in most cases) does one cease liking flavors. But more important than the question is the answer, which is core to the solution, and the main argument against anti-smoking groups’ claims.

Let’s remove cigarettes from the discussion for the moment, and place the same scrutiny on all products intended for adult consumption. As an adult consumer myself, let’s take a look at alcohol. Alcohol is not intended for children and has similar restrictions to cigarettes when it comes to sales and advertising.

If I place the same scrutiny on alcohol manufacturers that anti-smoking groups place on cigarette companies, then Samuel Adams and Smirnoff are the most blatant examples of companies attempting to attract children to products intended for adults. Let’s be clear – I am NOT saying these companies are attempting to market their products to children.

However, if we are simply attacking marketers of adult products based on their use of flavors, then the same must hold true for Samuel Adams and Smirnoff – with products infused with flavors like orange, blueberry, marshmallow, cinnamon, chocolate and strawberry. Aren’t these also the same flavors available in candy bars, breakfast cereals and other products intended for mostly children, and marketed as such?

Now I know many out there will say: yes, alcohol companies are also guilty of the same tactics.  I disagree, but lets assume for a moment they are correct.  Are we then saying that companies like K-Y are blatantly marketing to kids as well?  They offer their jelly in similar flavors like chocolate and strawberry.

The point I am trying to make is that the use of flavors is not an attempt to attract children.  Flavors are way of life from cradle to the grave. So if flavors are not the magic ‘child’ magnet, what leg do anti-smoking groups have to stand on? They’ll continue to use flavors as their big ‘ah-ha moment’ against cigarette companies because it’s ‘easy’ and doesn’t require too much work. It sounds overly simple but yet it’s true.

That’s because the real issue here is how and where products are marketed that are intended for adults.  At the end of the day the ‘anti’ side of any argument will always gravitate to the easiest way to attack their adversary, while maximizing their ability to get others on their side. Put yourself in the shoes of the ‘anti’ groups and think about the huge undertaking of combating alcohol and cigarette companies.

How do you get anyone to see your side of an argument or more importantly to agree with your viewpoint? It’s simple – say the opposite side is hurting children!  Gold! You win!  No one wants to hear the anti-smoking groups’ point of view if they merely take the approach of trying to change the choices of consenting adults for their own health. But claim someone is hurting a poor defenseless child? Chances are you’ll get few more ears and a lot more wins.

I am in 100% support of any regulation or restriction that prevents a child from gaining access to cigarettes, electronic cigarettes and alcohol.  But I take exception when such regulations attempt to limit the personal rights, choices and ultimately, freedom of an adult.  I also take issue with governments and regulators attempting to create laws that are essentially parenting decisions.

They would be well advised to stop taking on a job that should rest on the shoulders of the village and not the King, and undertake the far more difficult task of educating parents and adults so that they can protect their children.

The article Are Flavored Cigarettes Aimed at Kids? appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Sapporo Breweries announced on January 5 that it is webcasting a special commercial-message featuring narrations scripted by writer Haruki Murakami and footage produced by movie director Hirokazu Koreeda in a special advertising campaign to encourage the people of Japan to move forward despite difficulties caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

The web commercial is based on a series of four TV commercials aired during the Hakone Ekiden (long-distance college relay road race) on January 2-3, 2012, a nationally popular New Year event broadcast live across Japan. The race is a round trip between Tokyo and the resort town of Hakone.

Author Murakami, who found the intention of the campaign personally agreeable, wrote narrations for the TV commercials (*) featuring acts of running. A runner himself, Murakami agreed for the first time to take on writing commercial narrations. He intends to donate all of his writing fees to disaster-stricken areas through the Japanese Red Cross Society. Moreover, director Koreeda, who also agreed to the intention of the advertisement, planned and directed the commercials. The narrations were voiced by actress Yukie Nakama.

Koreeda also combined the four commercials into a 3-minute, 32-second special movie, made available on the company’s website from January 5, 2012. Visitors to the site can read Murakami’s narrations in their entirety. The webcast will be available until the end of January.

The company wishes that the special corporate ad would serve as encouragement for the future of the Japanese people, or as “tasuki” — a sash of cloth worn by ekiden runners — carrying the desire to revitalize Japan and to be passed on from the company to the people of Japan.

(*) Murakami personally wrote the narrations for the TV commercials based on his book “What I Talk about When Talking about Running: A Memoir” (available as a paperback book in the Bunshun Bunko series).

The article Haruki Murakami and Hirokazu Koreeda’s Campaign to Encourage People of Japan appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Twitter is an excellent tool for sharing news. It has the power to turn topics viral, which can be very helpful for bringing publicity to a company or Twitter page. It can also bring a lot of traffic to businesses. When topics go viral on Twitter and are creating a buzz, they are known as trending topics.

For those who are not familiar with Twitter trending topics, they are breaking news that people are sharing and commenting on. A “#” may appear in front of the phrase or word, those are called hashtags, which categorize it into a topic that people can converse about it. It is a great way to promote your page.

They are listed on the right side of the Twitter homepage where the timeline appears. It can also be localized, rather than having a list of trending topics worldwide, Twitter allows users to narrow down the topics to local areas, so users can see what is going on in other countries.

Here is a list of examples for some of the trending topics in early 2011:

• #swineflu – for Swine Flu
• Cairo – capital of Egypt
• #prayforjapan – sentiment following the March earthquake and tsunami
• Libia/Libya – site of an ongoing civil war
• Fukushima – Japanese nuclear power plant
• William & Kate – Newly-named Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
• Gadafi – Libyan political leader

Here are some topics relating to pop culture:

• Rebecca Black – pop singer of the song “Friday”
• Femme Fatale – newly-released Britney Spears album
• Charlie Sheen – actor from Two and A Half Men
• #tigerblood – hashtag made popular by Charlie Sheen
• Nate Dogg – rap artist
• Queen Gaga – referring to artist Lady Gaga

Here are a few for the end of the year that highlights some of the key events that took place recently:

• #London Riot- For the riots that happened in London
• #OccupyWallstreet- for what’s taking place in Wallstreet
• #Irene- for Hurrican Irene
• #VMA- For Beyonce’s news about her pregnancy
• #Thingslongerthankimsmarriage- from Kim Kardashian’s news on divorce
• #osamadead, #osamabinladen, #osama- Osama Bin ladens death

And of course, one that got so many reactions:

• #RIPStevejobs, #SteveJobs, #iHeaven, #iSad, #ThankyouSteve- for the passing of Steve Jobs

When Hurricane Irene hit in late August, #Irene became a popular hashtag and received over 1 million tweets that were related to the hurricane. TGDaily said it was a weak storm but a social media superstorm.

Trending topics are excellent way to follow news and keep updated on events. It is also a great way to share thoughts relating to that topic. It can lead to debate or even bring out a project to help others. An example would be the riots that took place in London. After the riots, a #riotcleanup hashtag was started which led to a Twitter page devoted to helping those affected by the riots.

Twitter was the first to report Osama bin Laden’s death, even before President Obama’s broadcast. Country singer Keith Urban tweeted hearing about the death from a credible source and soon after Twitter was receiving over 4000 tweets per second.

Twitter trending topics are very useful for promoting an event or any news in general. It is important to promote your hashtag so users will know the official hashtag for whatever it is that is being promoted and can join  in on the conversation.

The article Top Twitter Trends 2011: Impact of Twitter Trending Topics appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.