I received a gift from Marlboro in the mail last night. Yes, the cigarette company. This is really odd considering that I haven't smoked in over 6 years. But what's even more odd is the gift that they sent me.
The package was about the size of 3 DVD cases stacked on top of each other and was advertising Marlboro Menthol cigarettes. It was heavy. Really heavy. It was like it was packed full of rocks. I couldn't figure out for the life of me what Marlboro would send me that would weigh that much.
I thought for sure that it would be several packs of cigarettes and maybe some stupid promotional item. I really didn't like the idea of having cigarettes around me. It's been years since I've had any temptation to smoke but I still just didn't like the idea. I nearly threw the package out without even opening.
In the end, my curiosity got the best of me. I had to know. So, I opened it up and discovered... [insert suspenseful pause here], a leather bound box of dominoes. True it was fake leather, but it was still a pretty nice case. It even had a magnetic latch. And the dominoes were pretty nice too. Not cheap plastic ones, but 'real', heavy dominoes. The most bizarre thing of all is that neither the case nor the dominoes bore the name 'Marlboro' anywhere on them. It was almost as if they weren't even promotional material.
Could it really be that Marlboro was really just thanking me for my many years as a loyal customer? Or is this some other type of underhanded marketing ploy? I suppose that it has worked. I have spent more time thinking about cigarettes in general and Marlboro in particular in the last 24 hours than I previously had in the last 3 years. Clever tobacco industry bastards! :)
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4 comments:
Be careful--every time you pick up one of those dominoes, nicotine seeps through your fingertips into your blood, until you're addicted again. If I've seen it once, I've seen it a hundred times.
Marlboro...bringing you the best quality hand crafted dominoes in really special pleather cases for 50 years. We painted the black dots on and everything, it took us all night.
...Oh, and buy our cancer sticks too.
Mmmm dominoes. It has been a secret addiction of mine for years. The taste of that sweet plastic with the hard clay center, when it is lit is a sensation best... Oh was that out loud?
What comes to my mind is the 'free gift' (CD player, I think) Ben sent for on his mission. It was from a cigarette company, and he had picked up enough coupons (or whatever it was that came in cigarette packs) from the park to 'buy' it. (Well, that's what he told me! :)
Anyway, I wonder if it was something like that, that someone had sent for, but the company somehow put the wrong address on it?
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