Should Swedish Match North America GIVEAWAY A FREE PRISMASTER??

[GODOFSNUS]

I just found out every single tobacco shop in LA -except for TinderBox in Santa Monica; Stopped Selling General Loose Snus. EVERY SINGLE MERCHANT I SPOKE TO SAID, "THE CUSTOMERS DIDN'T LIKE IT: BECAUSE IT WAS TOO MESSY." IF THEY WERE GIVEN FREE GENERAL PRISMASTERS AS A NEW PROMOTION ITEM; IT WOULD BE STILL AROUND, AND VERY POPULAR INDEED.
What do you folks think??
I'm fwd this to SWNA.*

SNUSON!!!!

[c.nash]

Depends.

The real thing is most people won't get into lös until they've used portions for awhile, some do jump into it soon after but some portion experience is usually required.

As someone said here it's a niche market (Lös) inside a niche market (Snus) inside a niche market (Smokeless Tobacco).

[Darwin]

It's obvious to me that a total newbie, unversed and unaware, of snus to begin with is going to freak out trying to deal with loose without major informational help even with a Prismaster, or heck even with an Icetool. Last year, pre-snus awareness and pre-forum research, if someone would have suggested to me that I put stick moist Swedish tobacco in my upper lip, with some sort of tool or just by hand, I would have marched smartly in the other direction appalled by the very notion. We'uns has seen the lös light and glory glory but without the influence of the forum? Not a chance.

[justintempler]

To each his own, I think the prismaster is junk.
I don't think giving away a prismaster would have made the difference. Most new people prefer portions.

[desirexe]

+1 Godofsnus! I switched from Camel to swedish and didn't really get into the portions at first, my love for snus didn't happen until I tried los with a prismaster. Everyone is different but the drip & flavor of portions turned me off and los was so subtle, it was perfect!

[danielan]

There is, in the archives somewhere, a picture of a can that has a prismaster type deal built into it. That would be pretty cool.

[Monkey]

When I started, I was turned off by portions and if I hadn't tried los, I'd still be struggling with cigarettes and dip.

Of course, I had to find out how to use it and got all of my info from this forum.

A prismaster might have been nice but just seeing the video of how to bake a pris and practice got me losing in no time.

[lxskllr]

I suspect the people were using it wrong. I'm guessing they were throwing it in their bottom lip, and it was instantly turning to mud. A detailed pamphlet would teach people everything they need to know about lös snus. The Prismaster can go to hell AFAIC. I'd rather see a discount IceTool. Something that bridges the quality of a ghetto IceTool, and the real IceTool. Maybe make it out of nylon....

[Guest]

I suspect the people were using it wrong. I'm guessing they were throwing it in their bottom lip, and it was instantly turning to mud. A detailed pamphlet would teach people everything they need to know about lös snus. The Prismaster can go to hell AFAIC. I'd rather see a discount IceTool. Something that bridges the quality of a ghetto IceTool, and the real IceTool. Maybe make it out of nylon....

Way back when I ordered a Prismaster it did come with an instructional leaflet but it was in Swedish (of course) You'll probably recall I was in the 'put the snus in the wrong end of the Prismaster club' and then posted for help on getting the snus out of the wrong end of the Prismaster

I saw the Prismaster as a very cheap way to try los to see if you like it before investing in an Icetool although I didn't like the brick shaped pris it made. Maybe Ice might be able to come up with some kind of try out los Icetool. That would be cool

[tom502]

They could have printed up a small instruction paper and attached it to the lids.

[myuserid]

Not a bad idea.

I'm a new snus'er, and so far I've only tried portions.

Eventually, I'll grab can of los to try.

[Darwin]

A heavy duty plastic version of the Icetool should only go for ten bucks or so but tooling up for such a limited production item would be expensive with potential sales of only a few thousand--at best. Somebody will do it in time I feel sure but likely not anytime soon.

[jamesstew]

I suspect the people were using it wrong. I'm guessing they were throwing it in their bottom lip, and it was instantly turning to mud. A detailed pamphlet would teach people everything they need to know about lös snus. The Prismaster can go to hell AFAIC. I'd rather see a discount IceTool. Something that bridges the quality of a ghetto IceTool, and the real IceTool. Maybe make it out of nylon....

THIS^^^^^^

Just a little how-to on shaping a ball-shaped pris and where to place it would do wonders.

[lxskllr]

It wouldn't take anything different to make the IceTools out of nylon, or some other hard polymer. They can be machined like the metal tools. The danger is in cannibalizing the metal tool line. I agree that $10 is about the right price, and you'd be getting 90% of the IceTool at 25% of the price. Not really a money maker for a niche item.

[Darwin]

Injection molding would be the cheapest way per unit to manufacture such an item but the mold making expense would be hard to justify with the limited sales potential. A modification of syringe molds might be cheapest but some big outfit would have to care enough to bother. Snus is at present an extreme niche product with loose a fraction of that. Machining an appropriate polymer would zero out mold making costs but would increase the unit price several fold, likely well past 10 bucks. If however appropriately sized polymer tubes and rods could be sourced then machining costs would be bunch lower and might make the product salable at attractive prices.