A fake Cohiba exposed

[moki]

I helped out someone at a local smoke shop with his computer, and as a thank-you, he handed me some Cuban cigars.

I took a sniff of the foot, and something didn't seem quite right with the Cohiba he gave me. I took it home and compared it to the other Cohibas I have, and a few things looked off to me.

It wasn't until I scanned the bands in at hires that it was incredibly clear how off it was:

-- I noticed just by looking that hte "La Habana, Cuba" was off -- much too bold -- but who knows, I've seen screwed up bands from Cuba, too

-- The thing that really stuck with me was the shape of the C in "Cohiba" -- in the fake band, it's not squat enough, and the inner part of the C is just off

-- It wasn't until I scanned the bands in that I could see very clearly the color differences in the yellow part of the band.

I fired up Photoshop, and overlaid the two "Cohiba" bands on top of each other, and put a swath of the yellow band color side by side, and it's pretty self-explanatory from there:

Now... how to break it to him?

 

[gkpk]

Good job in spotting the fake detective Moki.
Just break the news to your friend nicely and be calm.
Take the fake and an original to the smoke shop and show the guy the obvious differences...........and then ask him to give you a real one.

 

[ksouro1]

nice job moki. has this ever happened to anyone else before? should i start inspecting all of the cigars i buy from now on? lol.

 

[Cigaraholic]

They really jacked up the scroll in the H in Habana too.

 

[CoventryCat86]

I would make a bet he honestly did not know it was a fake.

 

[moki]

I would make a bet he honestly did not know it was a fake.

yeah, turns out it was given to him by someone at the club -- he didn't even look at it closely. Now we get to talk to the guy who gave it to him, and let him know that he has a box of fakes.

I expect denial to last an hour or so.

 

[AVB]

What's the accepted answer? "If it tastes good then it's OK" :sign: :sign: :sign:

 

[Lumberg]

There are different runs of bands in Cuba.

 

[CoventryCat86]

There are different runs of bands in Cuba.

True, but I don't think the differences are that much. To me, the most noticable thing was the heavy script for "La Habana, Cuba"

 

[moki]

There are different runs of bands in Cuba.

There were three of them. The band pictured here was used on all cigars from 1994-2002 -- other than special productions like 30th anniversaries, etc., that's the only Cohiba band that was used during that time period. No variation. Typeface was exactly the same.

 

[Matt R]

The only thing that stands out to me is the difference in the "C". The otehr variances are and always have been present. I've seen lighter colored yellow/oranges several times. The heavier script is present sometimes too.

 

[Matt R]

There are different runs of bands in Cuba.

There were three of them. The band pictured here was used on all cigars from 1994-2002 -- other than special productions like 30th anniversaries, etc., that's the only Cohiba band that was used during that time period. No variation. Typeface was exactly the same.

There were late production '93's that had that band too.

 

[CoventryCat86]

Ah HA, well I learn something new everyday

 

[moki]

The only thing that stands out to me is the difference in the "C". The otehr variances are and always have been present. I've seen lighter colored yellow/oranges several times. The heavier script is present sometimes too.

Yep, the "C" is what bothered me most as well. They didn't change the typeface from year to year.

As fro the script, I've seen it slightly heavier, but not like this. Comparing this side by side, it's pretty obvious.

 

[lbrief]

That’s just TFF! :sign:
Moki, you are priceless man!
You undertook all that effort (scanning, photo-shopping, and then composing an opaque image) when all you had to do was lay one label on top of the other and then hold the two up against a bright light.
Hysterical! What’s next? Are you going to invent some kind of titanium robot arm to open your humidor for you?

You are the best. Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Tony Bones]

I have a couple questions for the experts:

1. Aren't 'Hibas made in more than one factory? If so, it seems that there could be variances in bands.
2. I can't imagine that all of the bands for 'Hibas are printed in the same place. It seems there could be definite variances, especially in a third-world country w/ little quality control.

Smell and the cap are always the dead give-away for me w/ fakes. Where things get really weird is when you have a fake that was made w/ decent Cuban tobacco. That'll screw you all up :0

 

[Matt R]

Not 100% sure on the bands, but boxes are produced in various "box factories" prior to heading to the factories for packing. I would imagine the bands are done at more than one print shop, but not sure on that. I'll have to do some checking. At any rate, there are always variations on the bands, but like moki said, the fonts generally do not change. Colors, ink shades, end cuts, embossing.... all those things will vary sometimes.

 

[lbrief]

They didn't change the typeface from year to year.

Actually, font substitution is quite common. Indeed, it’s a lot more common than some of the other printing inconsistencies that might occur. The reason for this is that everyone (even the Cubans I would presume) has begun (or in many cases completed) the migration from camera-ready art (AKA: mechanicals) to electronic pre-press.

In layman’s terms: electronic pre-press is where something is designed on the computer and then instead of outputting the artwork in-house and brining it to the printer, a disk is provided to the printer (or pre-press service provider) and the film or plates are generated directly from the disk (essentially someone opens the file and hits “print” but instead of printing to your home laser printer, the file is rendered as film or as printing plates). Another method involves digital printing whereby the file is sent directly to the printing press absent any plates or film.

Anyway, what this means is that there is a huge risk of font substitution between the developer’s computer, the pre-press operator’s computer, the image setter (aka: film generator), etc. Each of these devices requires that the actual typeface used be resident on the machine. If the font is not available it will pick a real close substitute, so close that even pro’s may not notice at first. The substitution will often occur without any prompting from the operator. And further, even when the typeface is supplied, the current system my literally have a preference for a different typeface and it may make a substitution (e.g. “AvantGuard” for “AvanteGuard”).

I’ve been in design and pre-press for 13 yrs now, and it is quite common for me to approve a proof at the printer’s, then walk in a day later to check the job on press and reject it because a font was substituted. I’m telling you, these substitutions are slight (e.g. Moki’s examples above) not everyone will readily notice them.

It is possible that if such a mistake occurred on a cigar band run, and it wasn’t caught until a significant number had been printed, then they might have decided to save a few bucks and use the misprints.

What is not likely however, is that any graphics would be substituted or improperly rendered. And, if you examine the differences in the amount of black border that surrounds the bottom row square just before the “C”. You will notice a marked difference. Clearly that error occurred in design, not in prepress or production. And, since it is unlikely that the band was redesigned for a recurrent print run, the only logical explanation is that the band was counterfeited.

 

[moki]

That’s just TFF! :sign:
Moki, you are priceless man!
You undertook all that effort (scanning, photo-shopping, and then composing an opaque image) when all you had to do was lay one label on top of the other and then hold the two up against a bright light.
Hysterical! What’s next? Are you going to invent some kind of titanium robot arm to open your humidor for you?

You are the best. Thanks for the laugh.

Holding 'em up to the light doesn't do it -- the bands are too opaque. Scanning them in and using Photoshop took all of 5 minutes, and the results can be shared.

 

[moki]

Actually, font substitution is quite common. Indeed, it’s a lot more common than some of the other printing inconsistencies that might occur. The reason for this is that everyone (even the Cubans I would presume) has begun (or in many cases completed) the migration from camera-ready art (AKA: mechanicals) to electronic pre-press.

No, font substitution for a brand name is not common at all.

Indeed, what many company's do is they take an existing typeface, and they customize it when they use it on their logos/brand names, for the explicit reason that it is not easy to fake by just typing it out with an off the shelf font (as well as to make their logo a bit distinctive).

That's what was done with the Cohiba logo as well. It's based on an off the shelf typeface, but it has been customized and tweaked.

Anyway, I know better than to argue with a lawyer in training -- I'm glad we agree that the bands are fake.