Here's Lorillard's statement: http://www.lorillard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Q1-2012-Earnings-Release_FINAL.pdf
Lorillard purchases Blu E-Cigs
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blu ecigs will be a separate operating company of Lorillard and it is Lorillard’s intention
to retain blu ecigs’ current management team and its headquarters in Charlotte, NC.
Yea, right
I can't count the number of times in my life I've heard companies say
"Don't worry ... We are the new owners but we aren't going to interfere
or make employee changes ... Everything will stay as it is now
Your jobs are safe and secure. We'll just come in from time to time
to collect the profits"
What they are really saying is ...
Don't jump ship and look for another job now ... We aren't ready
to bring in "our people" to replace you yet.
blu ecigs will be a separate operating company of Lorillard and it is Lorillard’s intention
to retain blu ecigs’ current management team and its headquarters in Charlotte, NC.
Yea, right
I can't count the number of times in my life I've heard companies say
"Don't worry ... We are the new owners but we aren't going to interfere
or make employee changes ... Everything will stay as it is now
Your jobs are safe and secure. We'll just come in from time to time
to collect the profits"
What they are really saying is ...
Don't jump ship and look for another job now ... We aren't ready
to bring in "our people" to replace you yet.
Yes, I'm concerned too. "Big tobacco" has certainly shown they have the ability to play the fall guy extremely well. However, this was not always the case. The Tobacco Industry was critical to the survival of this country early on and continues to be an enormous portion of the economy and used to be very well respected. That is, however, until it was made public that industry officials had intentionally concealed evidence that smoking was addictive and Dr. Do-gooder from Big Pharma was ready to throw the industry under the bus and offer "proven (mostly) safe and (slightly more) effective (than placebo)" treatments for the addiction itself as well as plenty of drugs, chemo, radiation or other therapies to treat those who are unable or unwilling to stop smoking with FDA approved cessation medications. ...As if every other company the FDA regulates (and the FDA itself!) is not guilty of the very same thing!
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Remember when opposition started coming out against e-cigarettes and everyone assumed it was big, evil tobacco trying to eliminate the competition? Remember how shocked we all were that it wasn't Big Tobacco, but all of the health groups who we thought would now be happy that we didn't smoke anymore? Remember how interesting it was to find out that so many of those opposing health groups were in the pocket of Big Pharma?
Now think of this: Once it was obvious e-cigarettes were here to stay, either Big Pharma or Big Tobacco were bound to get into the e-cigarette industry. It was inevitable. Which would you trust more to handle that business now?
An industry which was called out 30 years ago for refusing to admit what everyone already knew anyhow - that smoking wasn't good for you and was potentially addicting, has made attempts to create safer products for its consumers, is under great public scrutiny and is sympathetic to people who want to use tobacco/nicotine products recreationally and without being vilified and ostracized by society?
Or an industry that has secretly been behind all of the lies about e-cigarettes and smokeless alternatives, lied to get smokers/vapers banned from just about everywhere, financially supported groups that made smokers, tobacco users and nicotine users social pariahs in order to guilt them into buying their gums and patches and increase their profits, lied about and/or hid the relative safety of smoke-free alternatives (effectively killing millions of smokers who would have otherwise switched) and perpetuated the "quit or die" standard in order to sell more gums and patches and increase their profits, lied and/or hid the dangerous effects of Chantix, lied and/or hid the fact that NRT are highly ineffective - yet continue to tell people they are "safe and effective," so use them instead of smoke-free alternatives, which is effectively keeping smokers smoking (and endangering their health) every time the gums and patches fail yet again?
You could say "neither," but then you would be left with the e-cigarette industry, which is unorganized, unregulated, fly-by-night and has largely refused to step up and implement the most basic manufacturing and ethical sales standards in nearly 10 years, has been largely MIA in the fight against bans, taxes and sales restrictions and has only one representative organization that is apparently willing to throw everyone else under the bus to make their business model of the pre-filled, tobacco flavored carto the FDA standard.
It baffles me how vapers continue to see Big Tobacco as some inherently untrustworthy and unethical entity knowing what Big Pharma and the ANTZ groups have perpetrated over the years - lying and covering up facts for profit. Especially since it was the ANTZ who have worked tirelessly to provide the "evidence" to demonize the tobacco industry in the eyes of the public and give smokers a reason not to hold themselves accountable for their own actions.
Now think of this: Once it was obvious e-cigarettes were here to stay, either Big Pharma or Big Tobacco were bound to get into the e-cigarette industry. It was inevitable. Which would you trust more to handle that business now?
An industry which was called out 30 years ago for refusing to admit what everyone already knew anyhow - that smoking wasn't good for you and was potentially addicting, has made attempts to create safer products for its consumers, is under great public scrutiny and is sympathetic to people who want to use tobacco/nicotine products recreationally and without being vilified and ostracized by society?
Or an industry that has secretly been behind all of the lies about e-cigarettes and smokeless alternatives, lied to get smokers/vapers banned from just about everywhere, financially supported groups that made smokers, tobacco users and nicotine users social pariahs in order to guilt them into buying their gums and patches and increase their profits, lied about and/or hid the relative safety of smoke-free alternatives (effectively killing millions of smokers who would have otherwise switched) and perpetuated the "quit or die" standard in order to sell more gums and patches and increase their profits, lied and/or hid the dangerous effects of Chantix, lied and/or hid the fact that NRT are highly ineffective - yet continue to tell people they are "safe and effective," so use them instead of smoke-free alternatives, which is effectively keeping smokers smoking (and endangering their health) every time the gums and patches fail yet again?
You could say "neither," but then you would be left with the e-cigarette industry, which is unorganized, unregulated, fly-by-night and has largely refused to step up and implement the most basic manufacturing and ethical sales standards in nearly 10 years, has been largely MIA in the fight against bans, taxes and sales restrictions and has only one representative organization that is apparently willing to throw everyone else under the bus to make their business model of the pre-filled, tobacco flavored carto the FDA standard.
It baffles me how vapers continue to see Big Tobacco as some inherently untrustworthy and unethical entity knowing what Big Pharma and the ANTZ groups have perpetrated over the years - lying and covering up facts for profit. Especially since it was the ANTZ who have worked tirelessly to provide the "evidence" to demonize the tobacco industry in the eyes of the public and give smokers a reason not to hold themselves accountable for their own actions.
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- Apr 2, 2009
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Some news stories about blu ecigs being acquired by Lorillard for $135 million. I'm quoted in the first article.
http://www.cspnet.com/news/tobacco/articles/lorillard-acquires-blu-ecigs
http://www.csnews.com/top-story-lorillard_acquires_blu_ecigs_for_$135m-60981.html
The Daily Reflector
Lorillard 1Q Net Off 10%; Buying E-Cigarette Maker For $135 Million | Fox Business
Lorillard profit off 10%, buying ecigarette firm - MarketWatch
Lorillard Buys Blu Ecigs; Profit Falls - WSJ.com
http://www.cspnet.com/news/tobacco/articles/lorillard-acquires-blu-ecigs
http://www.csnews.com/top-story-lorillard_acquires_blu_ecigs_for_$135m-60981.html
The Daily Reflector
Lorillard 1Q Net Off 10%; Buying E-Cigarette Maker For $135 Million | Fox Business
Lorillard profit off 10%, buying ecigarette firm - MarketWatch
Lorillard Buys Blu Ecigs; Profit Falls - WSJ.com
What Kristin said 
It might be hard for some to work out which is the worst: the tobacco industry or the pharmaceutical industry. In fact there is no competition there, pharma is far more evil in every possible way.
Tobacco corporations don't actually want you to die, because killing consumers is bad business all round. If they could fix it so you survived, they would. As that isn't possible some of the time, they might just tweak the product a teensy bit so you don't stray from their brand - hardly a major sin in today's world.
Pharmaceutical corporations depend for their very existence on tobacco making people sick. In fact the more people who get ill and the more ill they get, the more money pharma makes. NRT sales are a billion dollar a year global market but are totally eclipsed by drug sales for treating sick smokers, which must be many times that amount: chemotherapy drugs, COPD drugs, cardiac drugs, vascular drugs, and other treatments; plus the vast hospital incomes from the hospitalization of sick smokers. It probably all adds up to hundreds of billions a year, all derived from smokers getting sick.
Pharma has worked very hard indeed to try and maintain the status quo: millions a year needing expensive treatment. Mr Tobacco would sooner you didn't get sick or die. His only sin was lying about something everyone knew was a fact anyway; but Pharma suborns officials worldwide to keep their product moving - they've killed a whole lot more than any drug cartel in Medellin and it's a pity more people can't see them for what they are.
They number among their fine group of upright traders the biggest criminal fraudsters in the world [1] and the most successful murdering scum [2] you'll meet anywhere.
Sure, it's hard to know who to trust, but in a contest between a bunch of incompetent liars who everyone knows is telling porkies, and the best propaganda merchants, bribers and corrupters in the world, who depend on you to get sick for their income and will even buy legislation to ensure you do get sick, I know who I'd choose. None are innocent but some are a hell of a lot more guilty.
[1] I'm not making this up - pharma corporations pay huge amounts in fines for fraud. One of them, Pfizer, is officially the world's biggest criminal fraudster having paid a record-breaking $3bn in fines (three billion dollars) for their assorted frauds, lies and scams (google for 'bbc pfizer fraud).
[2] The net result of their efforts in the tobacco world mean that at least a million have already died, and that will rise to several millions. It might even be a toss-up in the end as to who kills the most: BT or BP. Everything pharma do in connection with their tobacco policy kills smokers. They might save a few with their drugs, but if you do the math they probably kill ten times more than they save. Pharma is now the main driver behind maintaining the status quo in smoking - they have to, hundreds of billions of dollars in income depend on it.
It might be hard for some to work out which is the worst: the tobacco industry or the pharmaceutical industry. In fact there is no competition there, pharma is far more evil in every possible way.
Tobacco corporations don't actually want you to die, because killing consumers is bad business all round. If they could fix it so you survived, they would. As that isn't possible some of the time, they might just tweak the product a teensy bit so you don't stray from their brand - hardly a major sin in today's world.
Pharmaceutical corporations depend for their very existence on tobacco making people sick. In fact the more people who get ill and the more ill they get, the more money pharma makes. NRT sales are a billion dollar a year global market but are totally eclipsed by drug sales for treating sick smokers, which must be many times that amount: chemotherapy drugs, COPD drugs, cardiac drugs, vascular drugs, and other treatments; plus the vast hospital incomes from the hospitalization of sick smokers. It probably all adds up to hundreds of billions a year, all derived from smokers getting sick.
Pharma has worked very hard indeed to try and maintain the status quo: millions a year needing expensive treatment. Mr Tobacco would sooner you didn't get sick or die. His only sin was lying about something everyone knew was a fact anyway; but Pharma suborns officials worldwide to keep their product moving - they've killed a whole lot more than any drug cartel in Medellin and it's a pity more people can't see them for what they are.
They number among their fine group of upright traders the biggest criminal fraudsters in the world [1] and the most successful murdering scum [2] you'll meet anywhere.
Sure, it's hard to know who to trust, but in a contest between a bunch of incompetent liars who everyone knows is telling porkies, and the best propaganda merchants, bribers and corrupters in the world, who depend on you to get sick for their income and will even buy legislation to ensure you do get sick, I know who I'd choose. None are innocent but some are a hell of a lot more guilty.
[1] I'm not making this up - pharma corporations pay huge amounts in fines for fraud. One of them, Pfizer, is officially the world's biggest criminal fraudster having paid a record-breaking $3bn in fines (three billion dollars) for their assorted frauds, lies and scams (google for 'bbc pfizer fraud).
[2] The net result of their efforts in the tobacco world mean that at least a million have already died, and that will rise to several millions. It might even be a toss-up in the end as to who kills the most: BT or BP. Everything pharma do in connection with their tobacco policy kills smokers. They might save a few with their drugs, but if you do the math they probably kill ten times more than they save. Pharma is now the main driver behind maintaining the status quo in smoking - they have to, hundreds of billions of dollars in income depend on it.
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Kristin ... KUDOS
The only thing that I can add is the smoking public at large really couldn't care less
if its BT, BP, or Chevy who bought Blu. I really don't care either
While power vaping ... We here have participated in numerous discussions regarding
juice safety ... Can't remember anyone posting that they are giving up vaping
due to safety concerns.
To me it's not a BP or BT issue ... BT just fuels the drama.
Don't color me Blue
The only thing that I can add is the smoking public at large really couldn't care less
if its BT, BP, or Chevy who bought Blu. I really don't care either
While power vaping ... We here have participated in numerous discussions regarding
juice safety ... Can't remember anyone posting that they are giving up vaping
due to safety concerns.
To me it's not a BP or BT issue ... BT just fuels the drama.
Don't color me Blue
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Hmmm ... starting to think I'll have to break out the ole tin-foil helmet - some bad vibes 'round here.
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Kristin, that statement was among your best. I cringe every time I hear an ex-smoker berate the tobacco industry. They're certainly not saints, but really. Every industry does what it has to so that the next quarterly report will show growth or they have a darned good reason why they didn't. The nature of the beast.
We have been sold the theme health through chemicals so long, watched every human condition created into a medical condition that could be remedied, every sneeze turned into a pandemic that we forget it's just another industry selling their wares.
Beware of the drug pushers in white coats.
We have been sold the theme health through chemicals so long, watched every human condition created into a medical condition that could be remedied, every sneeze turned into a pandemic that we forget it's just another industry selling their wares.
Beware of the drug pushers in white coats.
Your comment reminded me of a cartoon I saw:
It's funny - I compiled my comments in this thread into a post on my blog and the comments there are predictable - "How can you say this?? Big Pharma is evil!" It's like they didn't read anything I wrote. I guess it takes longer for the kool-aid's effects to wear off for some people. And if you haven't been involved in the THR advocacy world, it's hard to have perspective - knowing the lies that have been told about e-cigarettes makes you start to question all of the other "facts" you've been given from that same source in the past.
"Public health" groups have known for years that NRT products don't work and that smoke-free tobacco is much less harmful than smoking, yet they kept that from the public - possibly resulting in the deaths of millions of smokers. How is that any different than the lie BT told? Every smoker who may have considered switching to a lower-risk product but didn't because they were told that it wasn't a "safe alternative" or felt guilty for failing to quit time after time with NRT and kept smoking should be outraged at those groups, but instead they only blame and mistrust Big Tobacco.
Personally, I'm more angry at those public health groups for misleading me than I am at Big Tobacco for its "cover up" 30 years ago. At least Big Tobacco wasn't pretending to be looking out for my best interests for the past 20 years and betrayed my trust.
That cartoon reminds me of my brother-n-law about 20yrs ago. He had a patch on each arm, gum and a cigarette in his mouth. He's still smoking today. It's a wonder he didn't have a stroke...lol.
And lets not forget it was RJR that has petitioned the FDA to change the warning labels on smokeless tobacco to tell the truthful information of the 3 month rotation of lies now on display...... except for the one that says smokeless tobacco is addictive.
Who knew....
I wonder how far that one is going to get with the current crop on cronies at the helm of the FDA
Who knew....
I wonder how far that one is going to get with the current crop on cronies at the helm of the FDA
I just added this to my blog post:
"Think about it - everything you know, all of the evidence about Big Tobacco, came from the same people who are now telling the public that "Big E-cigarettes" are targeting kids with the tasty flavors that no adult would use; contain anti-freeze, other toxic chemicals and carcinogens; are possibly more addicting than cigarettes; that vapers are just underhandedly trying to circumvent smoking bans and their vapor could be harmful to bystanders, so the industry is lobbying legislators to keep it legal to use publicly. They are twisting the facts, exaggerating, guessing and even telling outright lies to protect their profits. Doesn't that make you the least bit suspicious about what else they've been telling you about Big Tobacco?"
"Think about it - everything you know, all of the evidence about Big Tobacco, came from the same people who are now telling the public that "Big E-cigarettes" are targeting kids with the tasty flavors that no adult would use; contain anti-freeze, other toxic chemicals and carcinogens; are possibly more addicting than cigarettes; that vapers are just underhandedly trying to circumvent smoking bans and their vapor could be harmful to bystanders, so the industry is lobbying legislators to keep it legal to use publicly. They are twisting the facts, exaggerating, guessing and even telling outright lies to protect their profits. Doesn't that make you the least bit suspicious about what else they've been telling you about Big Tobacco?"
You're making my point for me, Kristin. Yes, they would prove to everybody that their e-cigarettes are safe... and only their e-cigarettes.
The growth of the industry over the last couple of years has largely hinged on the FDA being held at bay. If Big Pharma comes to play, the FDA will necessarily come in tow with them.
People like me, who mix their own juice, will be viewed as though they were running an illicit drug lab.
Message to Lorillard reps who are monitoring the ECF
We understand that along with the purchase of Blu
comes the responsibility to protect your customers
from those opposing e-cigarettes and e-smoking bans.
We look forward to success stories in the news where
you have stepped in to deal with those publishing
lies and proposing e-cigarette bans.
We understand that along with the purchase of Blu
comes the responsibility to protect your customers
from those opposing e-cigarettes and e-smoking bans.
We look forward to success stories in the news where
you have stepped in to deal with those publishing
lies and proposing e-cigarette bans.
Have you read Judge Leon's Opinion in the Smoking Everywhere & Sottera (dba NJOY) versus FDA case?
Judge Leon essentially described two classes of electronic cigarettes. Any company that made a health claim (e.g., you can use these to stop smoking) would be regulated as a medical product under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act. Big Pharma's product would not allowed to be sold until after the company went through the entire New Drug Approval process that all drugs have gone through.
The other class is recreational. If the manufacturers and/or sellers make no health claims, the FDA could regulate their product(s) under the Tobacco Act.
So if Big Pharma produces a prescription type of e-cigarette that drug approval does NOT force all other e-cigarettes off the market auto-magically.
Nope, not auto-magically. I guess my (not fully formed) fears surrounding this are grounded in the same tactics that make me uncomfortable with Big Tobacco. Big companies have been known to work with and/or manipulate the government to promulgate regulations that drive smaller competitors out of the marketplace, due to cost or the threat of legal liability. We've seen it many times in many other industries.
Realistically, I'd have to say the threat to the status quo from drug companies is tiny compared to that from tobacco companies. But the nature of the threat is essentially the same, when viewed from a high level, and that threat is basically regulatory in nature.
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