EnglishThe birth of a brand – News from the battle Lines
The tobacco multinationals at work against a little competitor
This is the multinational effect: aggressiveness or blind fear
This report intends to describe the actions undertaken against Yesmoke, and to illustrate the annihilation procedures brought into play against competitors in the tobacco field. Follow the events step-by-step on the pages that follow!
How has the world of cigarettes ended up in the hands of five companies that have succeeded in crushing every form of competition? Yesmoke will try to bring to light the connivance with tobacco, which often stems only from fear and incredible hysterical reactions when organizations come up against the imaginary power attributed to the colossi of the tobacco market.
This is what can happen when the colossus decides to impose itself on someone: this is how it intimidates without making threats, how it isolates its enemies without committing any criminal act. The PM Company, in fact, tries to conquer using cliches and peoplès fears, with surprising results and paradoxical situations.
The front lines
- Lawsuits
- Banks
- Credit card companies
- Tax experts and lawyers
- Investigations of Yesmoke around the world, press campaigns, personal attacks
- Suppliers
- Labeling and goods withdrawn from the market.
1. Lawsuits in the USA and Sentences with Requests for Payment of Damages, May 17th, 2005
$ 173,734,291.62 and $ 17,000,000. These are the amounts, which today, on May 17, 2005, Yesmoke should pay respectively to Philip Morris and to the City of New York. Today, the United States is forbidden territory for Yesmoke brands. With these sentences, the Colossus has been given the power to confiscate, on US territory everything that belongs to Yesmoke, and who knows if in the future it will not succeed in doing the same on the territory of other countries?
THE SENTENCES AGAINST YESMOKE, UP TO MAY 17, 2005 - DOING BUSINESS IN THE USA: LAWSUITS AS WEAPONS OF WAR – “BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO PAY”
2. The Front Line against the Banks, May 17th 2005
The accounts of the Yesmoke Tobacco SA are today in a bank that has asked us not to be named, and we comply. The path followed to arrive at this bank passed through one Swiss bank after another, and it was tortuous and full of surprises. This is strange, because we always think of Swiss banks as ensuring tranquility to their clients. The sad conclusion that one comes to is this: Swiss banks work with the perfection of a Swiss watch, but an unfortunate customer who clashes with the interests of a powerful multinational company may be very sorry that he chose that bank.
“FEAR BREAKS THE BARRIERS N. 1” – BEING THE CLIENT OF A SWISS BANK: THE UBS, BANCO DI LUGANO, BANCA DEL GOTTARDO, CORNER BANK, CREDIT SUISSE
3. The Front Line against Credit Card Companies, May 17th 2005
Today, the Yesmoke.ch site does not have a single credit card. Credit card companies have shut down on tobacco. Here, Philip Morris's action has really been effective at all levels, demonstrating that in the USA, the needs of Big Tobacco, come even before the federal law, which affirms that ordering cigarettes with customs declarations is a right of the US citizens. So, the credit card companies, in all the countries of the world have bowed to the will of Big Tobacco. Alcoholic drinks, pornographic sites, online casinos, online drugstores that can sell freely every type of drug: all of these have and freely use credit cards, but the little company that sells cigarettes is boycotted.
But Yesmoke's counter-attack is about to begin?
4. The Front Line against Tax Experts and Lawyers
Tax experts: The collaboration of tax experts is fundamental in Switzerland, where the safeguarding of privacy is a basic element of business. The tax expert Zurcher of Lugano, who followed Yesmoke's business from 2000 to 2002, committed the crime of "violation of fiduciary mandate", handing over confidential company documents to third parties. This is a serious crime under Swiss law.
Lawyers: Yesmoke's lawyers suggested that the company should immediately accept the notification without passing it through the Hague Tribunal, “In this way we can save time and avoid irritating judges and Philip Morris”. These were Yesmoke's lawyers in September 2002: Rand Rosenzweig (USA) and Franco Brusa (Switzerland).
“FEAR BREAKS THE BARRIERS N. 2”: “WATEHEN PHILIP MORRIS MOVES, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP IT” – VIOLATION OF THE FIDUCIARY MANDATE
5. Investigations on Yesmoke in the World, Press campaigns, Personal Attacks
AUGUST 5th 2004, US PRESS: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL – SEPTEMBER 9th 2004, ITALIAN PRESS: L'ESPRESSO – NOVEMBER 17th 2004, NEW YORK: THE ATTACK – DECEMBER 17th 2004, ITALY: THE INVESTIGATION STARTS
Stamp Out The Parasite - Press
6. The Front Line against Suppliers
Yesmoke Tobacco selected Filtrona as its new carbon filter supplier for its YESMOKE cigarette brand and for its new BORN TO SMOKE brand. After numerous meetings and technical discussions and more a month of studies and testing on the Yesmoke Tobacco cigarettes, here came their refusal to supply, with ridiculous excuses. So Yesmoke has been forced to delay the introduction of its brands for two months.
7. The Front Line against Labeling and Goods Withdrawn from the Market
It is forbidden to print on cigarette packs “slogans that might give the impression that a certain tobacco product could be less harmful than others”. So, the Yesmokes that displayed the catchphrase “Smoke Better”, were outlawed. This was a directive of the Canton Laboratory of Bellinzona, that ordered the withdrawal from the market of all these packets.
The company immediately complied and destroyed the product.
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