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LAWRENCE TAYLOR TACKLES PUNCH

Want to buy a cigar club membership in Malaysia?

Los Angeles, October 29 – Lawrence Taylor was a revolution.

Possibly the greatest linebacker in the history of professional football, Taylor overpowered opponents for 12 seasons with the New York Giants beginning in 1991, was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1986 and was elected to the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

Now he brings his all-out style to the cigar world as a spokesman for General Cigar’s Punch brand.

General will use Taylor in a strong ad push, not only in cigar-themed publications, but also in mass-market lifestyle and sports magazines in 2005, including Forbes, FHM and the Sporting News.

The campaign will also put Taylor on the radio, as General has bought spots in play-by-play broadcasts of New York Giants games on WFAN-AM in New York, as well on WBBM in Chicago for Bears games, WQAM in Miami for Dolphins games and on KILT, an all-sports station in Houston. General also purchased advertising, featuring Taylor, on “In The Huddle,” a nationally-syndicated show on pro football, for the remainder of 2004.

Taylor (pictured in the actual ad above) replaces prior Punch spokesman Terry Bradshaw, a Hall of Fame quarterback for the four-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s. Note the shadow cast against the background is not Taylor, but our old friend Punch himself!

The New York ad firm of McCaffrey, Ratner, Gottlieb & Lane produced the campaign, as they have for previous Punch ad personalities including Bradshaw, former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier and actors Dennis Hopper, James Coburn and Seinfeld sitcom star Wayne Knight.

It’s another demonstration of General’s determination to maintain the high profile of its top brands, four of which are consistently mentioned in any discussion of the top brands in the U.S.: Macanudo and Partagas, made in the Dominican Republic and Punch and Hoyo de Monterrey, made in Honduras.

There are now five Punch lines: Punch, Punch Deluxe, Punch Grand Cru, Punch Rare Corojo and Punch Gran Puro, all made in Honduras. We have been especially impressed with the Punch Grand Cru and Gran Puro lines, ranking the Gran Puro no. 7 in our list of the best medium-bodied cigars available in the U.S. and the Grand Cru line no. 24 in our list of the top full-bodied cigars. Our full rankings lists are available to our CigarWire subscribers.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia:
While tobacco is under attack in the U.S. and western Europe, an elegant new store has opened in Ipoh, Malaysia, a city of 562,000, the third largest in the country.

The impetus behind “De Cigar Shoppe” in the Syuen Hotel is marketing consultant Frida Khong Siew May, whose decision was based as much on convenience as necessity.

She told the Malaysia Star, “I’ve been a cigar lover for almost seven years and during this time, I’ve been traveling to Kuala Lumpur or Penang to buy cigars or visit cigar clubs.

“So I thought to myself, why not open a cigar shop in Ipoh since I’m based there.”

With an investment of 100,000 Malaysian Ringgit (about $26,316 U.S.), she opened her store and sells the typical assortment of Havana cigars, including Montecristo, Partagas, Cohiba, Fonseca, Romeo y Julieta and others. She also has top-notch wines from Chile, South Africa, Italy, France and Australia.

Khong also raises money for Ipoh-area charities through the sales of “privilege cards” which carry discounts and other benefits, for RM899 each (about $237 U.S.).

So far, so good. Khong says business has been good and “we have recruited about 50 members each month since our opening.”

Rankings “Flipbooks” coming soon!
If you enjoyed our recent rankings of full-bodied cigars, you’ll love our new Rankings Flipbook!

It’s a 3-by-5-inch shirt-pocket-sized, flip-up guide to all of our rankings for mild, medium and full-bodied cigars, plus our top ten cigar “gadgets.” Just the thing to help you make the right choice the next time you’re in a walk-in humidor.

It’s a $6.95 value, but yours for free with a 12-month subscription to our value-packed CigarWire service for a paltry $24 a year ($2 a month!). Existing CigarWire subscribers will also receive a Rankings Flipbook, with mailing scheduled for the week of November 8.

Happy Halloween!
~ Rich Perelman

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