Nailed it Ferdinand!
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And not for nuttin, but look at Lew Rothman and what HE DID as SOON AS the cigars were announced.
He put out a BLOODY AWFUL "clone" of the BHK line as an Alternative bundle and actually had the balls to say
that BHK was all a big show of packaging and he was gonna put out a cigar that rivalled the BHK and do it without
ripping off the people, blablabla. NOW THAT is offensive. His version is a TIRE FIRE. ANd he used the
words BHK in his cigar name.
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"I am only paying homage to the sizes of Behike. Why not, they already copied my Cabaiguan Guapos size (5 5/8 x 54 - with a pigtail) that has been around for far longer... "

This is what I was referring to when I said he was justifying his actions. From a comment on the original article, I am assuming that the poster was actually Pete Johnson.
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Could be right, you likely are. I was just stopped for a minute when I remembered the Ca source.

AHH, I see, you are quoting his statements in THIS THREAD, I forgot all about those.
I was just thinking about the Ca article.
In the end it matters not to me, I have no use for his OLD products although I know there
are fans, even freaks for the stuff.

Is that a effin HOLOGRAM in that tobacco leaf? LOL....you whore.
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I assume then he is paying homage to the size of the behikes, paying homage to the jars, paying homage to the book releases....paying homage to the EL second band.....Lots of homage, interestingly enough he never mentions blatant theft, no because homage sounds better :-)

I should start a company called "Tat2waHey cigars by Peet Johnston". It's a homage I swear, it's not me trying to make millions blatantly ripping you off...it's a homage :-)

I bet he'd sue.

The least he could do is make the cigars look better, merely presentation wise the Behikes look 10 times better at least. But he's right nic tobacco is better :-)

So why does your product look vastly inferior then? :-)
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Holee Carp, thanks for reminding me...I need to pick up another box of BHK 52's Fernando!
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In the auto business they say "there an a** for every seat". Market is also driven by what is promoted.

Connoisseurs like small ring gauge cigars. Cigar critics like small ring gauge cigars. Many B&M owner like small ring gauge cigars… All the people needed to drive a fad are all in check. What is not in check in the cigar business is forward thinking; they beat the same drum ad nauseam.
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Haha, thanks for grounding me again, Bill. I forgot this was not only about the BHKs. :-)
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:-)
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Meh....it's all marketing and hype. If you're talking about it and arguing about it then you are getting his brand name out there. Can't argue with the strategy behind it.

Are there some Tat's I enjoy? Sure. Am I going to go out of my way to track down every little thing he releases? No.

It's all relative to what you enjoy.
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What do people think about the Cohiba Count Draculas? I haven't read any reviews of the Bolivar Boris. I really love the Farm Vintage 2009 Partagas where all the tobacco came from one farm. Oh wait, there aren't any cuban cigars like this... how could've Pete sold his Monsters and La Verite's then?

I can understand people having an opinion, but this "debate" is so old already... why get yourself worked up, over this of all things??? If you don't like something, why keep bringing it up over and over? Maybe express your opinion once to get it off your chest and then be done with it and live a happier life.

Everyone has an opinion so I could care less if people don't like what Pete is doing. But the simple fact is cuban cigars are illegal in the US so why not take ideas from what they are doing and recreate it in the US? If a business owner sees a good idea and knows it sells, why would they not want to do something like that for themselves?

Examples in other industries:
- Coke comes out with a new style of plastic bottle or top that sells well. Should Pepsi say "oh we better not steal Coke's idea"... hell no, they will make their own.

- Samsung develops WiFi inside their TV's. Should Sony not put WiFi in their tv's because another company already did it? Hell no.

- Mercedes develops a rear facing video camera for when driving in reverse. Should other manufacturers not install cameras because Mercedes did it first? Hell no.


So why should the cigar industry be any different? An argument could be that these are technology changes and not marketing, but I could cite many examples of marketing strategies/ideas copied as well. In the cigar industry, there really can't be many technology changes so a good portion of sales is all about the marketing and having a good blend of tobacco. Not much room to play except driving good packaging and marketing.

Like other wise men say... smoke what you like. Why let the things you don't like bother you? Just move on...
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Don't forget IP laws:-)
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Ryan, you are something.

So if a metal band has a lead singer, that just gives Pete Johnson
license to just LOOK LIKE HIM? I think NOT! There are LAWS!

Take your backward ideas to the Hawaii forum.
.

.

.

:-)
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Interesting way of putting it Ryan.
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I know I said I was done before but I lied!:-)
There is one thing we can all agree on. Pete Johnson is clearly the guy that a lot of guys love to hate. Especially here on CA. I just look at it as more sticks available for me to smoke. :-)
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For the record, I don't hate Pete at all, and have had some Tats that I enjoyed. Not my first choice, but there's room for many, and obviously the man is doing something right.
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So what you're saying is you believe the CC Cohiba to be in the right? You know, despite the fact that the current CC Cohiba brand was entirely stolen from the now Dominican Cohiba that fled during the revolution. You should be bashing most, if not all, Cuban marcas for stealing company names, sizes, and even blends from pre-revolution Cuban marcas.

All I'm saying is trying to defend CC marcas like they're something holy that can't be touched from NCs that are using similar sizes and ideas is hypocritical at best. Especially defending a company like Cohiba, which stole EVERYTHING from the pre-revolution Cohiba that still exists in the Dominican.

:-)

I'll grab some of these when the come out. Will be interesting to try to say the least.
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Amen John. I feel the same way. :-) Tat Ho's United!!
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This country is great... everybody has rights....

You have a right to smoke cheap cigars, you have a right to smoke expensive cigars, you have a right to smoke bad blends, you have a right to smoke good blends, you have a right to beech about gimmicky cigars, you have a right to ignore gimmicky cigars, you have a right to drink chitty beer, you have a right to drink good beer, you have a right to smoke for the image, you have a right to smoke for the tastes, you have a right to post fluffer reviews, you have a right to ignore fluffer reviews, you have a right to describe your cigar with 58 adjectives, you have a right to describe your cigar with 10 adjectives.....

Just don't crap on the hood of someone's car. That might get you in trouble :-)
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Comments Pete made yesterday on another board below in quotes.12 Rounds is a good fight on any card - I judge it a draw! Really just posted this originally as a news item. Maybe we should let it rest now - along with some cigars of your choice.


"Hey guys. Long time not here. Just wanted to jumped in a talk about the new lines. The company as a whole is gonna be exactly it's name, The Workshop. We will always be experimenting. The main point is to make great cigars. The Behike thing is my way of thanking the Cubans for using my Cabaiguan Guapos size (5 5/8x54 with pig tail) which came out long before Behike 54. Cigar sizes are nothing original anymore and I'm sure you will see many other people copying the formats in the BHK line. Curious if anyone else will actually come out and say they are doing it. ???

The best part of all of this, is the production of the new bundle products. As much as I love my premium boxed cigars, I can honestly say that the bundles we are making are premiums also.

Thanks for letting me jump back in."

Pete
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