Who Consumes The Most Tobacco and Alcohol

With spending habits waning amid soaring interestrates and rising gas prices, it is perhaps useful to note the trends in the stickiest of spending habits - tobacco, alcohol, and fast food...

Norway tops the heap in terms of alcohol and tobacco spend...

Happiness

“People always think that happiness is a faraway thing," thought Francie, "something complicated and hard to get. Yet, what little things can make it up; a place of shelter when it rains - a cup of strong hot coffee when you're blue; for a man, a cigarette for contentment; a book to read when you're alone - just to be with someone you love. Those things make happiness.”

― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Ads that changed the way you think

The Marlboro Man certainly wasn't the first iconic advertising figure. The Marlboro Man transformed the brand into an ultra-masculine accessory In 1939, Coca-Cola helped create the modern image of a cheery, rotund, red-outfitted Santa Claus. Before that, representations of St Nick had ranged from skinny and creepy, to stern and downright scary

Ronald McDonald, like the Marlboro Man, is so recognisable that the product name need not be displayed.
But the Marlboro Man did something more. He transformed the Marlboro brand from a mild ladies' cigarette into a rugged, ultra-masculine accessory.

Unlike Ronald McDonald, men aspired to be the Marlboro Man. The campaign was wildly successful - Marlboro sales increased 300% in the two years after the ad debuted in 1955. "There is just a handful of ads ever created that have actually become more important than the product itself, that created wealth and built fortunes," Mr Garfield said

The Marlboro Man did that through the simple insight that a person's cigarette could speak to his or her self image. James Twitchell, author of 20 Ads that Shook the World, told the BBC that in addition, the Marlboro Man was an achievement because it found success at a time when Americans were learning that cigarettes were genuinely dangerous, addictive products that could kill you. "The Marlboro Man was strong, powerful. He never speaks. He's so tough," Mr Twitchell said. "The genius of the ad is that at the same time there was a rising realisation that this thing will kill you, it was identified with a character who was, on the face of it, indomitable." Sadly, the three actors who played the Marlboro Man died of lung cancer. One sued Phillip Morris and the cigarettes became known colloquially as "cowboy killers".

WEB SITE IDENTIFICATION PROCEDURES

There is currently no standardised method of sampling content featured on the world wide web. In the absence of standardised protocols, we employed a searching strategy similar to those utilised in studies of Ewings sarcoma and herbal remedy web sites. Both of these studies identified their study sample by entering multiple keywords into multiple search engines and by assessing either the first 100 or 250 hits from each search to determine web site eligibility for the study.

We used multiple keywords and search engines for several reasons: (1) approximately 85% of internet users rely on a search engine to locate information; (2) industry studies show that users employ approximately three keywords in a given search session; and (3) the best single search engine only covers about 16% of the web, but combining the results of multiple search engines raises coverage to nearly 42%.

To identify the best keywords we began by first locating approximately a dozen ICVs and examining the words featured on each site's main page and metatags. Metatags provide keywords to help search engines find the site. Most browsers have a feature that allows users to view the underlying source code, including metatags. These approaches yielded a pool of 11 potential search keywords (cheap cigarettes, cheap smokes, cheap tobacco, discount cigarettes, discount smokes, discount tobacco, low price cigarette, inexpensive cigarette, mail order cigarette, online cigarette, and tax free cigarette). All 11 potential keywords were then typed into six major search engines used in an earlier study of search engine coverage to determine which keywords were most efficient in identifying ICVs. “Discount cigarette”, “cheap cigarette”, “mail order cigarette”, and “tax free cigarette” were selected as the four best keywords because they were the most efficient in locating ICVs, and at least one of these four keywords appeared in nearly all of the metatags for sites that were found using the other seven potential keywords.

To identify the search engines, we relied on popularity rankings. Media Metrix (www.mediametrix.com) ratings for August 1999 (the most current ratings at the time of the data collection) were used to identify the top five most widely used internet search engines. The four keywords were entered into these search engines, except for Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com), which is a category based internet search catalogue that required a slightly different strategy. Web sites on Yahoo! are organised hierarchically within categories. To identify the Yahoo! categories for cigarette vendors, two keywords—“smoking” and “cigarette”—were searched. The keyword “smoking” yielded 36 category matches and the keyword “cigarette” yielded five category matches. Of these 41 total category matches, only one unique category listed cigarette vendor sites: business and economy> companies>hobbies>smoking.

Tovacco Gifts

Work as art

The Cultivation of Tobacco, the monumental artwork created in 1960 by the husband-and-wife Greek engravers, Tassos (Anastasios Alevizos), and Loukia Maggiorou, is returning to Stavroupouli in Thessaloniki, according to a story by Nicky Mariam Onti for the Greek Reporter
The masterpiece shows men and women engaged in the cultivation and processing of tobacco in all its stages.
Last April, the work was said to have been transferred to the National Gallery for ‘maintenance, storage and protection’.
With the maintenance completed, it will join the collection of the State Museum of Contemporary Art.

How Smoking Affects Your Body And Appearance

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it is well-known that smoking cigarettes or inhaling secondhand smoke can lead to a myriad of health problems down the line. If you still need convincing, read on to learn about how smoking directly affects different parts of your body and your physical appearance.

Skin

Ironically, while smoking a cigarette may look “cool” when you’re relaxing, it is actually making you less physically attractive with every puff. Studies show that smoking causes premature sagging and wrinkling of the skin, so that smokers can look about 1.5 years older than nonsmokers. Since smoking also decreases the amount of oxygen in the blood, the skin also takes on a gray, ashen tone, replacing the natural glow or blush of healthy skin. It also slows down the wound healing process, so unsightly scars and stretch marks can become more prominent.

Body Weight & Fat

Contrary to popular belief, smoking can actually make you fatter. According to studies conducted by the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, heavy smokers tend to have greater body weight than nonsmokers. Smoking can cause insulin resistance, an important hormone that regulates body fat storage. The fact that smokers cannot breathe smoothly can also lead to a decrease in exercise and a sedentary lifestyle, hence making it difficult to shed pounds.

Lungs

When you inhale a mouthful of cigarette smoke, you are literally killing off the cilia in your airways. Cilia are the hair cells in your throat that helps the airway expel mucus or irritants, so without them, the smoker would be coughing away nonstop at all the mucus buildup in the throat due to the irritants from the smoke. Not only do the risks of esophageal, throat, mouth, and lung cancer increase dramatically, the lung’s ability of getting oxygen for the body also decreases. Lastly, cigarette smoke coats the walls of lungs with tar (yes, the stuff we pave roads with!), and it can take 10 years or for the body to neutralize the substance.

Heart & Blood

Since the lungs cannot get adequate oxygen to flow through the body, the heart works harder to get what little oxygen there is throughout the body. The blood pressure and rate also increases. Elevated CO2 levels in the blood also causes cholesterol deposits on the blood vessel walls, so clotting is more frequent, and the blood becomes stickier and less fluid. Hence, heart attack, stroke, and other life-threatening cardiovascular problems can easily become a reality with smoking.

Hormones

The amount of toxins and carcinogens in cigarette smoking causes the body to go into “alert mode,” which results in internal inflammation everywhere. Stress hormones are secreted from the adrenal glands above the kidneys, increasing the blood pressure (hence the usual jolt of energy smokers receives). Your blood also goes into overdrive to try and rid the body of such toxins. Smoking also messes with insulin, an important metabolic hormone, so it also increases the risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.
Sources:

• American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• Women’s Health magazine
• Ohio State University Medical Center
• MSN – Healthy Living

Why Non Filtered Cigarettes

Menthol is a chemical compound which is made of natural extract, and when inhaled it gives a cool sensation to the lungs. The flavor of menthol cigarettes is very light, and slim body of the cigarette has made people long for it. There are manufacturers who make only menthol cigarettes, but most of them who create for the masses have both menthol and the regular ones. The most famous menthol brands are the Kool, Salem and Maverick. Marlboro has launched menthol cigarettes recently, too, which is becoming very popular.

Menthol cigarettes were first developed by Lloyd "Spud" Hughes in 1924, though the idea did not become popular until the Axton-Fisher Tobacco Company acquired the patent in 1927, marketing them nationwide as "Spud Menthol Cooled Cigarettes" R.J. Reynolds Company launched the first menthol filter-tip cigarettes in 1956 under the Salem brand^. Less heavily mentholated than Kools, Salems were positioned as an all-purpose cigarette, and captured 0.8% market share within their first year.

Menthol cigarettes are constructed similarly to non-mentholated cigarettes, with menthol added at any of several stages during the manufacturing process. Menthol may be derived from distilled corn mint oil, or produced synthetically. While trace amounts of menthol may be added to non-mentholated cigarettes for flavor or other reasons, a menthol cigarette typically has at least 0.3% menthol content by weight. Lower-tar menthol cigarettes may have menthol levels up to 2%, in order to keep menthol delivery constant despite the filtration and ventilation designs used to reduce tar.
Compared to tobacco blends for non-mentholated cigarettes, a menthol cigarette will tend to have more flue-cured than burley tobacco, and less oriental tobacco.

I heart smoke

Sexy smoking lady

Green Flavour

Let’s get the party started!

Sobranie Cigarettes were first within frames of Russian customs and first produced at the end if XIX century, and at present time it keeps manufacturing in London, and the same place – Old Bond Street. Sobranie cigarettes are designed for cocktail evenings, important persons and luxury. There are different styles like Sobranie Cocktail and Black Russian Cocktail, with filter designed with gold foil and a ring making it familiar with standard Sobranie cigarettes.

Shall we say it is a brand representing high class of society? Yes, Sobranie cigarettes are always accompanied with sumptuous atmosphere and talks about different concepts. Shall we say it is extremely expensive to enjoy it? Definitely not. This brand is not as costly as, for example, Dunhill cigarettes, but much more affordable, and the taste of Sobranie is very pleasant in comparison with other similar products. The main feature of Sobranie cigarettes is that it is made of not just good tobacco blend, but also contains particular components like mint, making the taste always fresh and new.

Russian-style cigarettes as Sobranie can be called so, are very popular on the territory of CIS, and considered to be very expensive brand in this area, and the prize variations are close to Dunhill cigarettes. The body of the pack is embodied with an eagle – Russian emblem – and blends used in these cigarettes suits Russian preferences and flavors.

Other view on Sobranie cigarettes is female positioning, but it doesn’t prevent males from trying it. Of course there is no strict separation, but the elegance of pack, smooth taste and feminine grace of these cigarettes proves feminine orientation. When you appear on the party with Sobranie cigarettes, you immediately become a part of the party and ready to club. The color palette of Sobranie cigarettes contains mostly white, pink or blue variations, and you are to choose what you lie most of all. Disregarding the type you prefer, you will surely get qualitative flavor and taste you paid for and expect to get.

We can speak a lot about numerous advantages of buying cigarettes online, but let’s better speak about ways of obtaining it. Surely you can purchase it through numerous stores and markets, but it is much more preferable to buy it through online stores, as here you may have significant discount on those cigarettes you like or wish to try. So you don’t have to make long journey to the Europe, Russia or Asia. Purchase them through online store without leaving your own place.

Are you a Marlboro fan?

The availability of leading cigarette brands at discounted prices has caused the authorities to take some strict and legal measures to discourage the increasing smoking rate. The government  of the United States of America has recently applied tax hikes to the taxes on cigarette manufacturers. This not only discouraged extra production but also discouraged the increased consumption. Another effort for government to restrict the usage of cigarettes is the cutoff on cigarette advertisements. Reduction of smoking can be induced by managing the demand and supply of the cigarettes.
 Regardless of what efforts the government uses, smoke lovers will always be smoke lovers. They will constantly try getting their favorite cigarettes at discounted prices just like Marlboro lovers who are always trying to find Marlboro cigarettes online at affordable prices.
 Even when the Marlboro cigarettes are unavailable at discounted prices, the buying rate grows steadily. The reason for that is the addiction that the customers have developed with the Marlboro brand. The ardent smokers usually select a brand of cigarettes and then stay loyal to it because in their perception it fulfills their needs like no other brand. Thus you will notice that if these customers are unable to find discounted prices for Marlboro cigarettes,  they will start looking for Marlboro cigarettes online at high prices.
 It is true that the availability of brands like Marlboro at cheaper prices has induced growth in the demand of cigarettes. However, this is not the only reason of non-stop trending of the cigarette market. Even if the cigarettes are highly prices there are always going to be customers who will buy their favorite brands despite the high prices. There can be two reasons for that, either the customer has uncontrollable addiction to that brand of cigarettes or he can afford to buy cigarettes at high price.
 No matter what price Marlboro charges for its cigarettes, Marlboro lovers will buy Marlboro cigarettes. A tip for all the Marlboro lovers, if you are looking for Marlboro cigarettes cheap, go to online stores as they will not only provide original Marlboro cigarettes but also provide them at cheaper prices.

Kentucky to Raise Cigarette Tax

A proposal to raise the cigarette tax 40 cents per package and raise taxes on all other smoking products acquired support a few days ago from Government representative. It was one of diverse changes to sakes tax code advised by the commission, which has a deadline till December 2012 to draft a proposal for lawmakers that would make Kentucky’s state tax more competitive.

The commission approved a proposal that would boost Kentucky’s tobacco tax from 60 cents to $1.00 per package and boost the taxes on all other tobacco products. The members of tax commission considered the tax increase as a way to discourage youngsters from smoking and lift revenue.

Several members lobbied for a $1.00 per pack boost. “In case you raised it by $1, you will drop smoking rate among youngsters by 15%. You will save thousands of dollars in health care costs,” stated Sheila Schuster, an executive director of the Advocacy Action Network.