blu Cigs - Stephen Dorff / Rise From the Ashes- (2013) (USA)

Stephen Dorff is making e-cigarette's look cool by smoking them on the beach in black&white, while the branded blue light glows. He touts adults choice, and stresses that e-cig's are cool because they don't make you smell like an ashtray, don't bother people at basketball games, and.. *puff* *INHALE* *blow* - you look just as cool as when you smoke analog cigarettes. It's got all the trappings, a Hollywood handsome man and even the folded up jacket collar.

By golly, I think we've just seen the launch of a new vice. While the tobacco companies stress that their clever marketing for e-Cigs is not there to entice non-smokers or people who quit to smoke them, only to be an alternative for smokers, I'm not so sure after seeing this ad. It might gain new smokers.

However, as a former smoker (yep!), I wasn't tempted to try this. Not even after I read reviews that they taste a bit like coffee. I was extremely brand loyal to my Pall Mall plain (and the occasional Nat Sherman cigarettello) that quitting for me meant just that, quitting, not switching.

Those not ready for quitting yet might want to give this a go. It won't help you quit at all, but at least you won't stink. The ad manages to get that point across loud and clear with the breezy beach behind him. Subtle.

Big Tobacco are making high tech smoking cool.

blu Cigs